CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT GAYGLOS?
GayGlos is a Registered Charity which has existed in the county under three different names during the course of its 30 year existence. Starting initially as a telephone helpline and face-to-face ‘befriending’ service under the name “Gloucestershire Friend” it was one a number of independent LGBT Helplines aligned to a National Friend parent body which set standards for membership. The helpline was run entirely by volunteers and provided a vital local support and information service before the advent of the internet and mobile phone network.
In 1994 we changed our name "Gloucestershire Friend" to "Gay & Lesbian Friend Helpline (Gloucestershire)" to be more up front about our focal audience and to better reflect our work at that time. As our range of work and services expanded and as part of our ‘coming out process’ as an organisation we became GAY-GLOS, now GayGlos, in 2005.
SINCE STARTING IN 1989, WHAT MILESTONES HAS THE ORGANISATION ACHIEVED?
Our first big achievement was our evening helpline service going live in March 1990 in a tiny office space we shared with another organisation which used it during the day. Everything we owned, including our telephone and answer-machine, was locked away in a filing cabinet at the end of a duty.
Our next major change was to take on a run-down office space of our own which we totally refurbished as a comfortable home. In the same year, 1994, we also hosted a National Conference and Ian (now Sir Ian) McKellen became our Patron.
We managed to obtain funding to employ someone to get out and about in the county. This raised awareness of our existence particularly with the health community and major statutory organisations and led to being invited to deliver training to managers at the County Council. These sessions entitled “The Right to be Yourself” spawned further invites to deliver training, to join equality groups and into our work delivering sessions in schools. Our work with the county’s Youth Service, along with Gloucestershire Health Promotion led to the service opening its first LGBT Youth Group (Proud Start) with ourselves as the route of entry to join.
The launch of our website and email service in 1998 was one of the first such LGBT provisions in the UK. There were none of the packages that exist now to produce a professional website with ease. One of the long-standing members of the management committee had to start from scratch learning coding to create the site which served us well for many years but had long started to show its age. (After a couple of failed attempts, we were eventually able to launch a brand-new website in 2020 with skills offered by members of the Cheltenham LGBT Partnership.)
A successful bid to The BIG lottery in 2005 enabled us to employ 1.6FTE staff further expanding our engagement with statutory and voluntary organisations in the county and launching a series of Rural Friendship Groups which ran until 2010.
The expansion of the internet along with increased visibility and acceptance of LGBT people on society had led to a reduced demand for our helpline service and, via reducing the service from five nights a week to three, we ceased that service at the end of 2011. Reduced levels of funding also meant that we had been unable to employ staff and we vacated our office. The country’s economic crisis which resulted in demise of the county’s youth service also marked the end of ProudStart.
We saw these changes as a mark of the success our work for almost 22 years and an opportunity arose for us to investigate and launch our own Youth Group run, unlike most youth provision, on Saturdays. This has allowed young people from all over the county to join and has been running very successfully since July 2012.
We’ve had a longstanding engagement, since 1997, with the subject of Hate Crime and Incidents both locally and nationally. Alongside strong relationships with the Gloucestershire Constabulary and the Police and Crime Commissioner this resulted in us being instrumental, along with others, in the launch of the county’s five year Hate Crime and Incident Strategy in the autumn of 2016. Recognising the value of what we provide, both the youth group and the Hate Crime work have been supported financially by the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Fund since 2013 and 2015 respectively until 2022.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A TRUSTEE FOR THE ORGANISATION AND WHAT IS YOUR MAIN ROLE?
I joined the organisation during its first year and fairly quickly became a member of the management team. An early attempt to gain charity status stalled when the Charity Commission would not accept the use of the word ‘gay’ and we would not bow to the request for it to be changed to ‘homosexual’. Fortunately, attitudes at the Charity Commission changed as the years passed and I was a founder Trustee when we gained Charity Status in 2012.
The Board of Trustees all share an equal responsibility for the management of the charity: how it run; its strategic development; and financial viability. My personal specific responsibilities are as Secretary - dealing with correspondence, producing our Annual Report, keeping our Charity Commission details up to date and supplying the Commission with our annual return. Additionally, I handle the day-to-day management of our income and expenditure providing the Board with updates on our financial position at any point in time and supplying recommendations for budgeting for the forthcoming year. As an organisation reliant primarily on grants and personal donations future planning on projected income is always a challenge. Our schools’ education work brings in income to cover its costs of running the service although in the last year this has been zero owing to Covid-19 and school closures.
OVER THE YEARS, WHAT SIGNIFICANT CHANGES HAVE YOU NOTICES AROUND THE UNDERSTANDING OF LGBTQ+ PEOPLE IN GLOUCESTER, AND HOW HAS SUPPORT DEVELOPED DURING THIS TIME?
There have been huge changes in attitudes in society and the law in the UK over the last 30 years and this has been reflected in the Gloucester and in the county as a whole. In 1989 it was only legal for gay men over the age of 21 to have sex ‘in private’ – which did not include a hotel bedroom. There were no protections in employment or in the provision of goods and services. There was not an equal ‘age of consent’ until 2000. But through many legislative changes driven by societal changes LGBTQ+ people now have equality in the UK – in most things.
All statutory bodies and many businesses now embrace difference within their employment and delivery policies. There still remain a few pockets of resistance and some people have yet to catch up. The attitudes of many young people have moved on in leaps and bounds but still it can be difficult for pupils in school to be open about who and what they are. For some growing up ‘different’ it can be a huge challenge to express that difference to peers or indeed their parents and other family members.
GAYGLOS YOUTH STARTED IN JULY 2012 - CAN YOU TELL US THE PURPOSE OF THIS GROUNP AND HOW YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE BENEFITTED FROM JOINING?
One of the aims of the youth group when it started, and stated in our literature, was to “make friends with others like you”. It provides young LGBTQ+ people with a sense of identity and belonging, helping them to grow in confidence, self-esteem and happiness. Many young people joining the group feel they don’t fit in at school and know no-one else there who is LGBTQ+. Whilst some parents are very supportive of their LGBTQ+ child, for some who are gay, and many identifying as ‘gender variant’, issues of non-acceptance and challenge at home can compound the issue they face with peers. The group provides a safe meeting place where young people can be themselves without fear of not being accepted and gain the support of both the volunteer team and the young members themselves. Many long-standing friendships have grown from membership of the group.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE WHO IS QUESTIONING THEIR IDENTIFY AND NEEDS SOME SUPPORT?
Whilst there is a wealth of information on the internet you can’t beat speaking to someone and having a two-way conversation. Expressing your thoughts, feelings, concerns and hopes to someone can really help. Although we no longer run our telephone helpline in live time we can still ‘speak’ to people by email, telephone or meet face to face – and will take calls from people of any age. (Currently while under Covid-19 restrictions face -to-face meetings are on Zoom.) For a person aged 14-18 I’d recommend making contact with GayGlos via our website: www.gayglos.org
You could try speaking to someone you trust who you will feel comfortable talking to whom you feel confident will be open to listening to you. It could be a teacher (if you are at school or college) or a work colleague, or a member of your extended family. Ideally it needs to someone who has some knowledge of the issues you may have which is where and organisation like GayGlos can really help.
Don’t be afraid to start the process of feeling positive and comfortable about being who you are. It’s gets better – HONESTLY!
“Don’t be afraid to start the process of feeling positive and
comfortable about being who you are. It’s gets better – HONESTLY!”
GayGlos is a charity registered in England and Wales. Registered number 1149572.