Ruth, our Mentor Project Co-ordinator, on Liam:
‘Liam is always an absolute pleasure to work with. We really value having him on the mentoring team. He’s a fantastic listener – whether this is in the written format with his mentees, with fellow mentors at events, socials or training sessions and to the LOOK staff team. Having such a reliable, professional and kind team member has been an anchor for the project and the LOOK family during this very strange year.
Liam has been able to adapt and deliver his mentoring support so consistently throughout this challenging period. His kindness to others shines through in all that he does; he was a fantastic source of support practically and emotionally to the mentors and families during LOOKFest.
When we reflect on those wonderful, hot days of fun we can all picture Liam lending someone an arm, figuring out a way to deal with a practical challenge and encouraging his fellow mentors.
He embodied all that the fest stood for; fun, teamwork, kindness and community!
The variety of support Liam has continued to give LOOK is vast and ranges from podcast contributions, being a quiz team regular and fantastic time management and wonderful written mentoring communication – he really is a star!
Thank you, Liam. We know you’re a modest individual and we would love to share more widely with the LOOK Family how much we appreciate having you in our team. We hope 2021 is a brilliant year for you!’
From friends Kim and Abbie Rose
‘We met Liam at Lookfest in 2019, where he was bright and cheerful, working hard to support every family as well as other volunteers. Since that weekend, he has become an active part of our online gaming group. He works incredibly long hours but always makes time for his friends. Whenever someone is struggling, Liam listens to their problems without judgement and gives solid advice. This boost to the group’s morale has been especially important during lockdown.
Liam takes an active role in the fortnightly mentor quizzes as well as his many other hobbies. He always has something to contribute and also encourages others who are less confident.’
Meet Liam
“I’m Liam, I work for Essex County Council and in my spare time enjoy travelling, playing goalball and watching football. I got involved with LOOK when I volunteered with LOOKFest which I really enjoyed and found it to be a positive experience.
I got involved in the mentoring project as when I was younger I felt quite isolated because I didn’t know any other visually impaired people until the age of 19 and I think having the support of someone in a similar situation would have been really useful so I thought it would be a good idea to become a mentor.
During the pandemic I have spent some of my time volunteering and have recently assisted along with a few other people to set up a local VI gaming group in the East of England as we cannot travel due to Covid so the idea behind it was being a light-hearted group where people can keep in touch and talk about accessible games but I am really looking forward to things opening up again so I can travel and return to playing goalball whilst keeping up the volunteering.”
