MMI Campfire Chat: Allyship and its impact on LGBTQ+ Mental Health

The Mind Matters Campfire chats are back for a fifth series! Join the Mind Matters team and a range of fantastic guests for an informal delve into themes and topics that matter to the veterinary community. Open to all within the veterinary professions, these free online panel sessions offer a chance to pause, reflect and learn from each other’s experiences of navigating life, work, learning and mental health.

Suitable for: Veterinary surgeons, veterinary nurses, students, practice managers, receptionists and everyone who works in the veterinary community.

Allyship and its impact on LGBTQ+ Mental Health

In this MMI Campfire Chat… 
 
In 2024, supporting LGBTQ+ people to feel safe and respected, and ultimately enabling them to thrive in the workplace, has never been more important. Join us and our brilliant panellists for an informal, open and honest conversation, as we explore allyship, its impact on LGBTQ+ mental health and how we might support our colleagues to thrive and be themselves. We encourage you to submit questions in advance, and we will choose a selection of these to answer on the night. 

Panel Guests: 

Campfire Session Chair: 

Angharad Belcher, RCVS Director for Advancement of the Professions

Panel Members:

Dr Luke Fletcher
Dr Luke Fletcher is an Associate Professor at the University of Bath. His research interests span applied psychology and human resource management, and include topics such as meaningful work, employee engagement, and diversity and inclusion. Luke has written for a variety of practitioner and academic audiences, and he is a Senior Editor at the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology and an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Human Resource Management. His current interests focus on LGBTQ+ inclusion at work and he is working on an edited book on the topic with Prof. Shaun Pichler (California State University). 

Leah Morley
Leah has been working within the veterinary profession for over 20 years, qualifying as a veterinary nurse in 2000 before moving into management and leadership roles in 2010. In 2020 Leah moved into a regional role at Linnaeus, which is where she is today. Leah is a Director of Affinity Futures and a member and past president of the British Veterinary LGBT+ committee. Leah is passionate about creating work environments where people feel safe to be themselves, without fear of judgement or discrimination and currently sits on the EDI working group at Linnaeus.

Dr Dan Makin MRCVS 
Dan qualified from Glasgow Vet School in 2003 and spent several years working in mixed and equine practice both in the UK and in New Zealand.  Dan returned to the UK in 2006 and entered into small animal practice.  In 2017 he bought his own small animal practice in Poole and leads a team of fifty colleagues across two sites.   
Dan was a previous President of the British Veterinary Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Association (BVLGBT). Dan is currently a member of both the RCVS Diversity and Inclusion Group and BVA Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Group and was also a member of the BVA Good Work Place Working Group. 

How to register 

Please register to attend on Eventbrite. 

Register here 

Contact us

Should you have any questions, please email the RCVS Events Team.