The group was originally a part of Walsall Men's Health Project however when funding was removed in 2011 by the local authority we were kindly offered resources and space to operate by Walsall Tenants and Residents Federation that has been ongoing every 3rd saturday of each month. The group began as a 3rd sector organisation in Oct 2011 with 10 members and has grown to 40 signed up members over the time we have existed.There are also approximately 2428 Friends/subscribers on social media (facebook) and 72 followers on twitter.

 

We interact with the wider L.G.B.T community in Walsall by holding a weekly meeting on Saturday between 12am and 2 pm at the Village Hub in Caldmore Walsall where members of the group provide peer support in a safe, comfortable and non-judgemental environment as we find that this kind of atmosphere enables people to be more relaxed and open about issues that they may have. We can signpost anyone with an issue that may need the attention of outside professional bodies and attend appointments with the individual if they are unsure or worried as is sometimes the case when a person suffers from depression. We also attend other L.G.B.T community group events to form good links and relationships in the wider area of Walsall.

The group has of December 2012 been awarded £2477.00 by Community First in order for us to meet set up cost by purchasing equipment and securing premises and received an award for Volunteer Engaging Organisation of the year from Walsall Voluntary Action for our efforts in the planning of Walsall L.G.B.T Pride 2012 ,our support for Pride is continuing each year, and wider interactions within the L.G.B.T community of Walsall. We intend to apply for other funding in order to enable a better service to our members and are always looking out for input and suggestions from members of the L.G.B.T community to achieve this.

 

The group intentionally operates outside of traditional L.G.B.T venues such as bars and clubs as we wish to remove ourselves from the culture of drinking and drug taking in order to help in the promotion of good health outcomes. the group has also conducted radion iterviews with Radio BBC WM regarding HIV and static infection rates in younger people and also taken part in an episode of Channel 4 Embarrassing Bodies to help reduce the stigma around sexual health clinics an to promote Sexually transmitted infection awareness along with safe sexual practises. The group also provide free condoms and lubrication to members of the L.G.B.T community in Walsall and they can be collected from us at our weekly Saturday Meet up.



We have helped people from the Walsall L.G.B.T community with housing issues, sexual health awareness, homophobic hate crime, coming out, reduced social isolation and confidence building. We can provide as evidence a number of personal statements from members on how the support network has helped them with their personal issues. On a lighter note the group is fun, engaging and people friendly. There is a wealth of other issues that we understand haven’t been touched upon yet but are ready to tackle them when needed.

 

Three times a year we volunteer to help the Walsall Sexual Health Outreach project that provides on location testing for sexually transmitted diseases by trained nurses and HIV workers in order to help in reducing infection rates.

 

Three of our volunteers have also undertaken Trans Awareness Training through Gender Matters in order to help us serve our Trans members better.

 

The age range of people we can offer support to is 18 with no upper age limit as at this time our oldest member is 84 and still going strong.

 

We encourage members to engage in social activities that are inclusive to all and offer safety in numbers when out and about in the community. The group is always looking to grow and increase membership and would like people to know that our door is open to them.