Bristol Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Forum & EACH
The Bristol Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Forum works as a voice for the LGB Community in Bristol.
Work in partnerships: Work with Bristol City Council, other statutory bodies, charities, the voluntary sector and individuals on behalf of our membership and the LGB community.
Funded by: Currently receive funding from two departments of Bristol City Council – Neighbourhood and Housing and the Equalities and Social Inclusion Team.
What do you do?
We have meetings where lesbian, gay and bisexual people and organisations can discuss concerns or problems about living in Bristol. These issues can be about anything, from being safe on the streets and night, to homophobia at work, to educating the LGB community about LGB news, to setting up a new LGB support group.
We provide an excellent quarterly newsletter which is distributed free to all our members. It provides information on both local and national issues which affect our lives.
We work with statutory agencies to ensure that they are aware of the needs of the community and that the services they provide are shaped to respond to those needs.
We are also actively involved in the regional Lesbian and Gay Forum and represented on the Shadow Board of Equality South West to ensure that our needs are taken into account by those responsible for the development of regional issues.
What is your main aim?
We would like to see a fully inclusive community, both in the workplace and in social situations, where homophobia and homophobic hate crime are a thing of the past.
As a charity, we aim to advance the education of the public in all aspects of discrimination suffered by reason of sexual orientation. We also aim to provide support and assistance to any lesbian, gay or bisexual person in need.
What are your recent achievements?
The passing of the Civil Partnerships Bill is a major achievement for the community by the community. The pulling together by the LGB community and others to fight the proposed performance of a homophobic singer here in Bristol last year is a memorable success. We helped launch the first LGB Guide to Bristol in December in partnership with the Equalities & Social Inclusion Team, the Rainbow Group and the Terrence Higgins Trust. We also helped, along with Bristol Mind, to set up the GloBe – a support group for LGBT people with mental health problems.
Special mention goes to our current co-chair and treasurer, Stephanie L. Siu, who received a Women Who Make a Difference Award from Bristol City Council in March 2004 in recognition of her tireless work in support of the LGB community.
Finally, our ever increasing membership and the increasing attendance at our quarterly network meetings, mark the need and the relevance of the Forum in today’s society.
What are your plans for the future?
To carry on promoting an inclusive society and to fight injustice against lesbian, gay and bisexual people. We will be having a meeting with the Police on the subject of homophobia and homophobic hate crime on 1 March at the Council House and another event (details to be announced) looking at the issues for older LGB people in housing and care. We are also hoping to contribute to a large exhibition and celebrations for LGB History Month in 2006.
If you had more funds what would you spend it on?
We only have one part-time worker who works in an inaccessible office so the first priority would be to provide an accessible office and more hours for the development worker to deal with the weight of demand and requests for consultation within Bristol on LGB matters. We also need a new computer!
More Background Info:
We are always looking for new members and for individuals to join our management committee. Membership of the Forum, whether full or associate, is free and confidential.
Please contact Sarah-Louise Minter at the office for more details.
Contact: Sarah-Louise Minter
Tel: 0117 922 0741
email: info@bristol-lgb-forum.org.uk
Postal Address: The Bristol LGB Forum, 82 Colston Street, Bristol, BS1 5BB
Educational Action Challenging Homophobia (EACH)
EACH is the charitably registered, training and support agency providing the UK with the freephone Helpline for young people affected by homophobia. They, or an adult on their behalf, can call our Helpline to report homophobia and seek further help and support.
We offer tailor-made training on sexual orientation issues to public and voluntary sector organisations committed to encouraging an equal and safe working environment for lesbian, gay or bisexual people of all ages.
We work in partnership with the DfES, LEAs, schools and colleges, the Police, Fire services, city and district councils, the teaching unions, primary care trusts, Connexions, Disabled Peoples Organisations, Black & Minority Ethnic agencies and other voluntary sector organisations.
FREEPHONE Helpline number is:
0808 1000 143 (9-5pm weekdays &10-12pm Saturdays)
email: help@eachaction.org.uk
For more information on training
EACH, Office 24, 14 Clifton Down Road, Bristol BS8 4BF
Tel: 0117 9 46 76 06
email: info@eachaction.org.uk
web: www.eachaction.org.uk
If your group would like to be profiled in a future Voscur newsletter or on our website, please contact Darron Thevarajah at the Voscur office Tel. 909 9949, or email: darron@voscur.org
