Thank you for listening….

After 33 years of dedicated service, Switchboard’s longest serving volunteer hangs up her telephone headset.

JENNY Bennett, Brighton and Hove LGBT Switchboard’s longest serving volunteer has called time on her listening career this month as she moves onto pastures new up North.

To thank Jenny for the huge contribution that she has made over the years, Switchboard threw Jenny a leaving party at the Bedford Tavern last month.

Joined by Switchboard team members old and new Jenny reflected on her time with the charity.  “When I joined, you could only tell a close friend where the Switchboard office was and you could only join by being recommended by a friend.  I felt it was like being part of a secret society with all the secrecy!”

When asked what she has most enjoyed about her time with Switchboard Jenny, said: “The highlight for me was being one of the four Pride Ambassadors in 2014, it was a real honour”.  She went onto say what she would miss most about volunteering with Switchboard, “I will miss supporting the callers of course, as well as working with the other Switchboard volunteers, and I will miss the routine of going into the office for a shift”.

Thanking Jenny for her service, Switchboard’s Chair of Trustees Dawn Draper, said: “We thank Jenny for all of her enthusiasm, contribution and support to Switchboard; we have all really appreciated the time and commitment she has given over many years to our staff, volunteers and those in the LGBT+ community who have used our helpline”.

Presenting Jenny with a leaving certificate and gift Switchboard’s CEO Daniel Cheesman, said: “We talk a lot nowadays about LGBT+ icons – we often look in the media and to celebrity for them, when they are normally much closer to home.  Over the years Jenny has become a local icon, for her dedication to LGBT+ people in her community and to those she has supported at Switchboard.  We thank Jenny on behalf of the hundreds of callers she has supported over the last 33 years and hope she enjoys her well earnt retirement”.

Taking the opportunity to encourage others to consider volunteering for Switchboard Jenny had this to say: “In this mixed up world we live in, by giving a little of yourself, your time and a listening ear, you would be helping another LGBTQ person to unburden their soul as they talk through what might be troubling them.”

To consider volunteering with Switchboard and training as a listening volunteer, click here: