This Volunteers Week, we are shining a spotlight on one of our longest standing volunteers…
Umair Akhtar
Umair began volunteering in our Glasgow branch in 2015 providing graphic design support to the team. His passion for design, art and creativity began in childhood and his talents developed over the years. He tells us that this passion and talent is what led him to the volunteer role within Dates-n-Mates. He now has his own graphic design company, UA Graphics and continues to support Dates-n-Mates with high quality poster designs alongside this.
We spoke with Umair ahead of Volunteers Week to discuss his experience with Dates-n-Mates.
“There have been so many memorable moments and tasks from over 10 years… I remember the first Club Late poster, creating materials for the launch of the Renfrewshire branch, and many event posters including Valentines, We’ve Got Talent and Halloween.”
Umair reflected on how he began supporting the Glasgow team with their event posters and graphic design work and then as Dates-n-Mates grew, he began to support other branches too, including Aberdeen and Falkirk. He is happy to help where needed. He mentioned a particular enjoyment of creating the poster for the upcoming Inter-Regional Sports Day for Dates-n-Mates members to coincide with the Commonwealth Games 2026.
When asked, Umair shared some positive benefits he has experienced from his time volunteering:
- A boost to morale and confidence
- An opportunity to do something he enjoys and showcase his talent
- Getting to know new people
- Developing experience and skill-building
- Helping to make a difference
Producing high quality design work is important to Umair, he understands and values the need for alignment with branding and using his years of experience to ensure style and finesse with every material created. With the development of new creative digital tools, he reflected that sometimes there is a viewpoint that anyone can design promotional materials within a few clicks. However, he emphasises that this doesn’t produce the quality of work that an experienced graphic designer can.
At Dates-n-Mates, we value his expertise greatly and appreciate the commitment and passion he puts into every poster design.
Umair also reflected that as an autistic individual that he can sometimes experience judgement and people doubting his abilities. He has valued the opportunity to showcase what he can do at Dates-n-Mates and our team believe he proves any doubters wrong.
Autism or a learning disability do not limit the talent or value of our volunteers, staff or members!
We would like to thank Umair, and all of our volunteers, for the work they do with us. Our volunteers are the heartbeat of our organisation, and we couldn’t do what we do without their valuable support.
If you are interested in seeing more of Umair’s Graphic Design work, we have linked his business details below.
If you would like to join the Dates-n-Mates Volunteer team – Please contact us here.
