A fantastic and rare opportunity to lead LGBT Health and Wellbeing by becoming its next Chief Executive

You need not necessarily be an existing Lead Officer but will need to have senior leadership experience in a service delivery / community support organisation.

We are interested in hearing from candidates out with the third sector, but you must have an understanding of it and the unique funding environment in which it operates as income generation is a key requirement of this role.

In addition, you will need a deep knowledge, if not lived experience, of the LGBT community and the multiple and complex issues our communities face.

If you have fierce determination to improve their lives, tenacity, resilience, and the strategic acumen to take this organisation to the next level, we want to hear from you.

More information and how to apply for the role here

We are looking for Guests Hosts to entertain quizzers at our monthly online Big Queer Quiz meetup

Are you running an LGBTQ+ focused or LGBTQ+ inclusive, community group or organisation?  Would you like to connect with an LGBTQ+ audience, raise awareness about your organisation AND have some fun?

Come and Guest Host one of our online Big Queer Quizzes and use the platform to create a shared learning experience for everyone.

No quiz hosting experience necessary, just a willingness to create some questions and give it a go!  You can shape the questions around themes linking to your organisation and we just ask that you ensure at least one round is centralising a queer topic e.g. Famous queer writers

If you’re interested, please contact Jules (she/her) for a Guest Host Guidance Sheet, via jules@lgbthealth.org.uk

At LGBT Health and Wellbeing, we put our community at the centre of our services and so we want to know what you think about our support and social programmes.

Our community feedback survey is key in evaluating our services and further developing them with the needs of LGBT+ communities and people in mind. If you use our services or come to our events, please take the time to complete our survey and help shape the future LGBT+ services in your community.

Take the survey at: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/LGBTHW2021W

The survey will close on Friday 17th December, 5pm.

To thank you for your time, we give you a chance to enter our prize draw to win a £50 voucher of your choice. Simply visit the link provided on the last page of the survey and leave your contact details to enter the prize draw.

How we use your information

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Your responses are confidential and will be anonymised. We collect your data for the sole purpose of evaluating the quality of our services. This means we will use the data in our annual reports, funding bids and occasionally in promotional materials (quotes will always be anonymised). For more information about our privacy practices, please refer to our Privacy Policy.

We use Survey Monkey (data collection software) to store your responses. By responding to this survey, you acknowledge that the information you provide will be transferred to Survey Monkey for processing and storage in accordance with their own privacy policy.

For the prize draw, your contact details will be hosted on Google Forms and we will only use these to get in touch with the winner. Once we have the winner, your contact details will be deleted.

LGBT Health and Wellbeing is relocating its Glasgow based team to the Adelphi Centre.  The Adelphi Centre offers a range of office, meeting, training and support accommodation for a wide variety of third sector and other businesses. Situated next to the River Clyde and a stone throw away from the heart of Glasgow, there is a number of specialised conference rooms.  Upon entering the building you will be met by their friendly reception staff.

Managed by City Property, the centre’s facilities also include a reception area, café (currently closed but will hopefully be opening again soon) and childcare nursery. In addition, two monitored car parks are available free of charge for staff and visitors to the building (on a first-come-first-served basis)

We are delighted that our space will offer us accessible offices that will provide a base for our staff team as well as affording us the opportunity to host small scale events and 1:1 meetings.

As some of you may recall, LGBT Health and Wellbeing started its life in Howe Street (Edinburgh) back in 2003.  Our services have developed over the years and our initial home in Glasgow was at Robertson House prior to our move into Queens Crescent.  Whilst Queen’s Crescent has served us over recent years it is no long fit for purpose and we hope that our new home will better meet the needs of all of our diverse community and the requirements of our organisation.

Our team have been busy packing up Queens Crescent and ensuring that the new office is both a welcoming and affirmative space.

We are really excited about this new chapter in the organisation’s history and very much look forward to welcoming you to this new office in due course.

You can continue to keep up to date with regard to our services via our newsletters and social media so follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

I’m Sophie (she/her) and I’ve just started at LGBT Health and Wellbeing in Glasgow as the new Development Worker for the Mental Wellbeing Project, taking over from the wonderful Benn. I will be overseeing the running of wellbeing events alongside the awesome sessional staff and volunteers. Additionally, I will be collaborating with See Me Scotland, supporting our See Me Proud Champions and new volunteers with their amazing work sharing their experiences with mental health.

I am so excited to have joined such a caring and energetic team doing awesome work in the community. Prior to joining the team I had been following the events run by LGBT Health and Wellbeing so when the job came up, I went for it!

I am passionate about making support systems as accessible as possible to folks who need them, which has lead me to work in a range of different third sector groups, including LGBTQIA+ and Homelessness Support organisations.

I have recently moved to Glasgow from Aotearoa/New Zealand with my partner, Rose. We met while she was travelling in NZ, and she decided it was time for her to come back home to bonnie wee Scotland to see her family! Glasgow is an awesome city and I’ve been having a great time exploring and getting to be part of Glasgow life as things start to open back up again post-lockdown. I really enjoy anything arty, and am currently spending time trying to get better at watercolour painting.

We’ll be starting to trial in-person events a bit more over the coming months, and will be holding a feedback evening where you can share your thoughts and tell us what you would like to see being run.  More details will be posted in the next few weeks!

I’m really looking forward to getting to know you as I settle into the role.

Our new research highlights work barriers for trans people in Scotland.

Here at LGBT Health and Wellbeing we are passionate about promoting the health, wellbeing and equality of LGBT adults in Scotland. We know trans (including non-binary) people experience specific barriers when looking for and staying in work. We wanted to understand more about these barriers in a Scottish context, and how they can be challenged.

Our recent Trans People and Work research is the first major Scottish research on the experiences of trans people at work and when looking for work.

The research highlights the many challenges and barriers trans people can face in relation to employment and makes recommendations for government, for equality bodies, and for employers.

The report findings point to a strong need for better policies, awareness raising, education, guidance and training, alongside greater positive visibility of trans people.

Maruska Greenwood, our Chief Executive, said:
“Although there are positive experiences and examples of good practice, the overall picture points to many people experiencing acute disadvantage due to their trans identity. These include negative effects on job prospects, workplaces not being trans inclusive, harassment and unfair treatment at work and mental health impact.”

Less than half of survey respondents felt their workplace was trans inclusive, and less than a quarter felt that the policies and strategies in their workplace go far enough to ensure work equality for trans people. Over half had experienced harassment at work, and most did not report it: most felt managers in their workplace were not adequately equipped to deal with transphobic harassment or bullying.

We hope the report findings and recommendations will act as a catalyst for change, help inform progress towards greater work equality and, ultimately, the economic advancement and social inclusion of trans people in Scotland.

Download the full report or read the executive summary

Hello!  I’m Susan (she/her), I have taken over the role of Edinburgh Service Manager at LGBT Health and Wellbeing from Annette who is now managing our National Projects like our Helpline, Telefriending and LGBT Age.

I am so chuffed to have joined such a fantastic, committed and (I’m sure you’ll all agree) super talented team of humans – in the short time I have been here, I am astounded and energised in equal amounts of the work that this amazing collective of individuals does.  I have always been a firm advocate of health and wellbeing, with equality and, importantly, equity of access to services that are warranted, needed and, unfortunately, sometimes lacking.  This has seen me work over the last 30 years in a variety of roles supporting communities with a fine tuning and focus that came with my years on community health and wellbeing, what works, what can be learnt, how we can work together and how to put in systems and structures to support this (I love a good spreadsheet, as much as it pains me to admit it).

I have had the absolute honour to work with some amazing social enterprises and charities in my time, who undertake such important and vital work.

I am also a long-standing remedial massage therapist and a qualified meditation teacher.  I love the subtle movement and story that our bodies tell us, connecting to all that nuance and niggle.  The way we can calm an anxious nervous system with some simple yet profound breath-work.  I tell you this to give a flavour of how I see two worlds can intertwine to really make a difference.

I’m originally from Newcastle upon Tyne, I moved to Edinburgh to undertake some postgraduate study at Edinburgh University back in 2016.  As soon as I started to spend time in Edinburgh, I knew it was a special city, for all its flaws and flair.  I’m an avid reader and have had to limit how many books I’m allowed to buy at any one time until the ‘to read’ pile gets a little smaller.  Mostly.  I have a little mongrel dog who I adore as well as an old, dementia ridden rescue cat who is beautiful and tricky combined.

I am so happy to be at such an ethical and integrity-laden organisation as LGBT Health and Wellbeing and I am very much looking forward to setting roots down in this organisation.

Somewhere: For Us is the new quarterly LGBTQ+ Arts, Culture, Heritage and Enterprise magazine for Scotland and beyond.  Each issue, copies of the magazine are purchased through the Pay it Forward Scheme to be given to Scottish LGBTQ+ charities like LGBT Health and Wellbeing, to be distributed to someone from the community who may not be in a position to afford a copy at this time.

LGBT Health and Wellbeing are proud distributors of the Pay it Forward Scheme and you can nominate someone to receive a free copy here: www.tinyurl.com/SomewhereForUsPIF

You will need to get permission from the person to provide their address details, or provide your own so that you can pass the magazine on to them.

Find out more about the Pay it Forward Scheme and other ways to explore and support Somewhere: For Us Magazine: www.buymeacoffee.com/SomewhereForUs

For more about LGBT Health and Wellbeing’s role in the Pay it Forward Scheme, contact Jules at: jules@lgbthealth.org.uk

Hey there! I’m Emma (they/them) and I’m the new Development Worker for the Glasgow LGBT Community Project, taking over from the lovely Katrina and Benn, who are both still part of the organisation (update: Benn has now left the organisation). I’m thrilled to have joined the team and to have the opportunity to combine my own experiences as a queer person with the voices of a wonderfully diverse LGBTQ+ community here in Glasgow. LGBT Health and Wellbeing helped me to make connections and feel settled when I first moved to Glasgow nearly 4 years ago, and my role as the Community Project Development Worker feels like paying it back: helping others form friendships just like I did.

My role involves putting together a programme of events for LGBTQ+ folks in Glasgow, which could range from online hangouts to in-person activities, and supporting the Community Groups (like Glasgow LGBT Autism, Glasgow LGBT Interfaith and Trans Masculine Scotland). If you want to join a group or if you’ve got an idea for a group or activity in our programme that you’d like to see, please drop me a line at emma@lgbthealth.org.uk. An important part of my job is helping make the events you want to see happen!

I’ve got a professional background in events, gender identity, climate activism, and charity fundraising, but outside of work I love to chat the ocean, deep space and reproductive rights. I volunteer my time with Amma Birth Companions and am always on the lookout for book recommendations focused around sexuality, space exploration and hope. If you’d like to chat about any of these things, or how to get involved in Glasgow’s amazing LGBTQ community, please drop me a line! I’m really excited to meet more of you as I get settled into my new job. Speak soon!

I’m Kay (they/them) and I’m LGBT Health Glasgow Transgender Support and Mental Health new Development Worker.

I’m excited to be doing work within the LGBTQ+ community and I hope to tie in my own experiences of queerness in with my experience working in community development.

My background is in youth work especially centred around individualised support, training delivery and employability. I also recently became a volunteer with the Substance Use Community Champions, a project LGBT Health and Wellbeing are involved in to help tackle inequalities around substance use and accessing support within the LGBTQ+ community.

I’ll be involved in 1 to 1 support within both projects and the Trans Wednesday group and any future GTSP projects. I’ve used similar services myself in the past and found them invaluable in growing into my own confident, authentic self and forming friendships within the LGBTQ+ community and I’m passionate about creating spaces that support others to do the same.

Outside of work I love cooking, video games, watching wrestling and anywhere with a mosh pit (the best one I’ve ever been to and probably ever will had a bake sale.) I’ve already met some of you at the first Trans Wednesday I attended, and I look forward to meeting more of you as the weeks go by and getting to know you all better (and any pets that happen to wander on screen!)

I’m Drew Bain (pronouns he/him), the new Development Worker on the LGBT Age Project. I’m now into my third week and I’m settling in well. My usual working week is three days; Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Some of the things I’m looking forward to working on are pulling together community content for the weekly online and fortnightly paper version of our Virtual Hug newsletter (would love to hear from you), supporting the Age Reference Group, and developing a programme of LGBT Age social events for the rest of the year. These will be online at first, with a hope that we will be able to meet in person again soon.

My career background has seen me active in TV and music video production, further education, and public libraries. I worked in public libraries for seven years, and the areas of that job I got the most from personally were helping people to access resources, bringing community groups together, event planning and delivery, and outreach work in the community. I developed a real interest in intergenerational work and saw first-hand the benefits bringing people together could have. The community work I did in libraries, combined with my own personal life experiences, inspired me to apply for the LGBT Age post where I hope that I can contribute to making positive change for the future of the older LGBTQ+ community, for myself and for my friends.

In my spare time I’m a keen walker. I absolutely love walking a new path and seeing things from a new perspective. I’m a big fan of the creative arts and look forward to regularly attending live music gigs again in the future. I’ve got a pretty eclectic music taste, and just love the collective vibe of experiencing live music with others. Theatre and film are another two loves, and you could often find me in Glasgow Film Theatre, The Cameo, The Grosvenor, CCA, Bo’ness Hippodrome. Raring to get back and support these brilliant places soon. I get joy from being by the sea, lighthouses, looking at the moon (love the word lunar), nature, and laughing with friends. Can’t beat a good belly laugh.

I’m really looking forward to getting to know you all better as the months go on.

Hello, I’m Keith Paterson (he/his) and since the end of February, I have been LGBT Health Telefriending Coordinator, which is our project for the over 50’s. It was set up to reach community members who may be feeling isolated. They receive a monthly check-in phone call from one of our team. It has been very successful and the team have made regular contact with many members of our community, which has been particularly important during lockdown.

I started volunteering in the 1980’s for what was then Edinburgh Gay Switchboard based in the Gay Centre in Broughton Street in Edinburgh. I also worked for Gay Scotland Magazine. For a time, I ran the Training programme for Switchboard, which saw an expansion of services.

If any of you watched Channel 4’s It’s A Sin, that is an era I relate to very much – friendships forged, the music, the bars and clubs and sadly friends lost.

My main career was working for a bookshop company, who eventually had shops all over the UK. Travelling for work made regular volunteering more difficult but I have always stayed involved in our community. Laterally I have run my own business selling theatrical memorabilia and at the same time had a B and B, which was a great opportunity to meet people from all over the world.

My main interests out of work are theatre, music (now classical music, which I came to late in life), photography, and my lockdown pursuit has been Lego, which is a lot more expensive and complicated than in the 1960’s when it was my favourite pocket money toy.

There is a growing need to provide services to match the requirements of the older members of our community and I am very much looking forward to expanding and developing our Age Telefriending Project.

Hello! I’m Ryan (he/him) and I’ve just started at LGBT Health and Wellbeing as the Development Worker for the Lothian Transgender Support Programme (LTSP).

I wanted to work for an LGBT organisation for as long as I can remember – at least since my early teenage years, when I found myself in need of someone to talk to about my own sexuality and relationships. There was no support available in my town, however, and it made me think of all the other people struggling to find a listening ear. If only there was a person to reach out to or a safe space to meet others like me – we could get together and build something for our community! Unfortunately, due to family reasons and the situation in my home country, pursuing this path was not a possibility, so I had to put that dream on hold.

Fast forward to a few years after arriving in Scotland, I started exploring my gender identity and came across the Transition Support Course – a weekend event ran by Jules, where I was first able to make some trans friends. Not long after, a few of us were approached and asked if we would be interested in reactivating Trans Men Scotland – a community group that was dormant for a while but badly needed. With the help of LGBT Health and Wellbeing we were able to run our monthly meetings, we took over the Facebook group and changed the name to Trans Masculine Scotland to encourage non-binary folks on the masculine end of the gender spectrum to join us too.

I have been an active community member not only through my involvement in running the group. In 2016 I participated in a photoshoot for the LTSP programme to help promote the service – the photo attached comes from that session. Admittedly I look slightly different now, with most of my hair having migrated to the lower parts of my face…

Trans and non-binary folks are dealing with a number of issues in Scotland at the moment, but we are also some of the most resilient, welcoming and caring people I have ever met. I can’t begin to describe how excited I am to be joining the team – most of whom I have already met and/or worked with – and helping our community feel supported. I hope I get to see some of you in person as soon as we can and in the meantime I’m looking forward to running events from my own living room via Zoom.

You can also reach me at ryan@lgbthealth.org.uk. Stay safe and speak soon!

We’ve launched our lottery page with Glasgow Community Lottery to raise fund for our cause and community in Glasgow

Support us at www.glasgowlottery.scot/support/lgbt-health-and-wellbeing 

Glasgow Community Lottery is an exciting weekly lottery that raises money for good causes in the area of Glasgow and its residents. To support our cause and the LGBT+ community in Glasgow, you can find our support page here. 

We have a target of 50 tickets. Tickets for the lottery cost just £1 per week. Each ticket has a 1 in 50 chance to win a prize each week, with a top prize of £25,000. From every £1 ticket you buy, we receive 60p. This is double The National Lottery contribution rates and that’s the way we like it. The draws take place every Saturday and a 6 digit winning combination will be picked with winners notified by email.

For more information, visit: www.glasgowlottery.scot

Hello! I’m Grant and I’ve just started at LGBT Health and Wellbeing as the Service Manager for Glasgow.

I first found out about LGBT Health a few years ago – while working for a different charity – when I recruited Elizabeth as one of our Volunteer Counsellors. We invited Elizabeth to give a presentation to our staff and volunteers to share her experience in working with the LGBT+ community and hear how we could best meet their needs. I remember being amazed with what Elizabeth and LGBT Health were doing in Glasgow, and since then I have been following the charity on social media and keeping up with the fantastic work that’s been going on.

I’ve been working and volunteering in the third sector since 2013. For over two years I was a Volunteer Manager, making sure volunteers were fully supported and that their work was rewarding, celebrated and valued. After that I worked in Community Outreach; making support more accessible, rolling out our services to communities with high levels of deprivation. This was such a rewarding role, and I remain passionate about accessibility and inclusivity so I hope to continue to include this in the great work the LGBT Health team are already doing.

For the two years before the pandemic I was Service Manager, looking after the charity’s counselling services, physical wellbeing services, self-management programme and support groups. From this role I know how underfunded and overstretched the NHS mental health teams are, and that often the needs of the LGBT+ community are not fully met in these settings. I think it’s so important to have a charity dedicated to supporting and promoting the health and wellbeing of our community, helping to reduce isolation, and providing spaces for us to meet and be our authentic selves.

I’ve spent the past week finding out more about the projects my team have been overseeing, and I’m blown away by everything they’ve managed to achieve, particularly with the backdrop of COVID19. Whether that’s the Trans Support Programme, the incredible work being done to support asylum seekers and refugees, or our programme of community events. Moving these events and groups online has allowed us to provide a safe space for people at a time where many of our usual haunts are closed. I hope that I’m able to support them to continue to develop each of their projects, and that some time soon we’ll be able to deliver our services in-person again.

Everyone I’ve met (via Zoom) so far has been super friendly and helpful and I’m so excited to be joining the team. I’m looking to meeting you all properly, but if you’d like to get in touch sooner please feel free at grant@lgbthealth.org.uk.

This has been another busy and eventful year for us, engaging with people from across the LGBT+ community and throughout the life course. There have been many new developments and highlights. Alongside the very strong delivery of our more established Community, Trans, Mental Wellbeing and LGBT Age (50+) programmes, we’ve also continued to develop newer initiatives. Our two-year LGBT Dementia Project gathered pace, including through a secondment from Alzheimer Scotland, and the work of See Me Proud has grown from strength to strength, boosted by a new cohort of champions. One of the year’s highlights has been LGBT Age’s short film Return to the Closet?; made in collaboration with Luminate it reflects on the hopes, fears and aspirations of older LGBT people in relation to care.

Much of the focus of our policy work has been on mental health, including our National Conversation on Mental Health events, as well as continuing to support our community’s involvement in the campaign for Gender Recognition Act reform.

We remain strongly focused on responding to the needs of our communities. After increased engagement with asylum seekers and refugees, we scoped the acute needs of this section of our community, and secured funding for a ground-breaking Glasgow-based LGBT Refugee Project, which launched in March 2020.

We showcased our vibrant and increasingly well-established Glasgow work at our Well Proud Information Event in the City Chambers. However, in spite of the successful development of these services, and the growing demand, we continue to lack statutory funding for our Glasgow work. This means programmes remain reliant on precarious funding, and are proving hard to sustain. In contrast, we’ve continued to secure public sector contracts to deliver much of our Edinburgh-based work.

Organisationally, we have continued to focus on promoting the health and wellbeing of staff and volunteers. And our Accommodation Working Group has been looking at the organisation’s premises, with an initial focus on the relocation of our Edinburgh office base. At the end of the period covered by this annual report we entered lockdown. Our staff and volunteers responded to this unprecedented challenge immediately and with great creativity and resourcefulness, enabling us to move within days to remote service delivery. As well as moving our group delivery online, and providing one-to-one support remotely, we extended the hours of our LGBT Helpline Scotland and set up a new outreach Telefriending Service. Our key message to the LGBT+ community has been: “We are still here for you – we have suspended face to face services and events, but we are not stopping our work.”

This year, more than ever, we would like to pay credit to our amazing staff, volunteers, and board members for their tremendous commitment to supporting Scotland’s LGBT community. It is thanks to their effort and dedication that over the last year we have been able to continue to provide an excellent service for the community, even through the challenges of Covid-19.

We are extremely proud of everything we have collectively achieved over the last year. We could not have done this without the support of our many partners, and most crucially the engagement of so many wonderful and diverse individuals from across Scotland’s LGBT+ community.

Read full annual report 2019-20

I thank the walls for helping folks to talk, for holding the words and feelings of those who needed a safe place to share them. And I’m glad the shelter and house-like feel to the place, provided a level of comfort for those whose own homes couldn’t always provide it. For those who spent days, weeks, months and sometimes years summoning the courage to ring the bell of No. 9, I’m proud of you.

For everyone who sang, wrote, painted and planted seeds, made banners, listened and learned and lifted others spirits… for everyone who visited to cheer on our volunteer and staff team over the many years, thank you for helping to fill the Centre with your kindness and warmth.

But the shelter and comfort that our community deserves, I believe, can be found wherever we gather. We build it, shape it and share it wherever we are and it’s vital that LGBTQIA+ people of all backgrounds and abilities, have the access, support and opportunity to be part of something that serves us all.

And so to barriers… the steps and stairs and heavy doors to name a few, I bid a happy farewell. The Edinburgh team will take our passion to a more accessible Duncan Place and we look forward to making it a welcoming, safe place for all who want to join us there.

Jules

Consortium is delighted to announce the launch of the LGBT+ Futures: National Emergencies Trust Fund. Thanks to funding from the National Emergencies Trust, Consortium will be working with our Grants Panel to distribute £350,000 of onward grants to diverse LGBT+ organisations from across the UK.

This important new fund is designed to address the additional needs LGBT+ people and communities have faced as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. It will support and strengthen LGBT+ organisations that have been impacted by Covid-19 and who are working hard to meet the needs of those most affected.

As part of the launch and responding to the evidenced increase in calls and requests for support through LGBT+ helplines, Consortium are announcing the award of 8 grants totaling £200,000 to helplines supporting LGBT+ people across the UK. This immediate injection of funding will allow them to respond to the huge increase in call volumes so as many LGBT+ people can access the initial support they need.

Applications are now being invited by any UK based organisation working with and for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans + people and communities. Funding of up to £15,000 will be available to organisations. Guidance and application details can be found at www.consortium.lgbt/NETFund.

Paul Roberts OBE, Consortium CEO said, “We are delighted to have been awarded this funding. LGBT+ people and communities have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and we cannot thank NET enough for responding to the evidence and supporting our under-funded sector with these funds. Consortium is passionate about the long-term resilience of our LGBT+ sector and will use this funding as a springboard to raise the profile of diverse LGBT+ issues with other funders, government and external stakeholders.”

Helpline grant recipients, who will work together to share their knowledge, data and intelligence, have commented on the impact this injection of funding will have for LGBT+ in their geographical or thematic areas.

Leni Morris, CEO of Galop and one of the immediate grant recipients providing support to those facing domestic abuse said, “Galop is delighted to be a recipient of these vital funds supporting the LGBT+ community in the UK. Galop helps thousands of LGBT+ victims and survivors of domestic abuse every year via our National LGBT+ Domestic Abuse Helpline, which has seen demand increase enormously this year. This funding will support LGBT+ victims and survivors of domestic abuse across the country at this time of crisis.”

Maruska Greenwood, CEO of LGBT Health and Wellbeing in Scotland said, “LGBT+ people are disproportionately affected by Covid-19, as reflected in the dramatic increase in engagements experienced by our LGBT Helpline Scotland. The impact lockdown has had on people’s mental health is now a key feature of many of our calls. This funding will enable us to continue the delivery of our extended helpline opening hours.”

Steve Williamson, Chief Executive of Cara Friend in Northern Ireland comments, “In Northern Ireland we have seen an almost 300% increase in Helpline calls. Cara-Friend’s LGBT Switchboard Helpline is the main point of contact and support for so many of our older LGBT generation here, and especially for those who face rural isolation or who are forced to live hidden lives in difficult home circumstances during the pandemic. It is literally a lifeline. This new network of UK LGBT Helplines is exactly the response we needed to see.”

Paul Roberts added, “We recognise there are parts of our diverse communities that are under-represented, whether geographically or those experiencing cross-cutting issues. With this funding we will also be exploring the impact on Welsh organisations and how best to increase capacity across the country, and have ringfenced 20% of funding for organisations working with intersecting communities—with a particular focus on BAME/PoC communities. This is just a start, more funding will be needed. Consortium will be leading the charge to keep LGBT+ voices on the agenda.”

Notes

The 8 helpline grant recipients are: Switchboard LGBT+, Brighton and Hove Switchboard, Galop, MindOut, The Intercom Trust, LGBT Health and Wellbeing, Cara Friend and LGBT Foundation.

For more information contact Paul Roberts, Consortium CEO on 07532 714722 or 020 7064 6500.