London Friend

Our Chief Executive Monty Moncrieff shares his thoughts about winning our National Diversity Award

London Friend has won a National Diversity Award! We were successful in the Community Award for LGBT Organisations category, an award which recognises the contribution of our organisation supporting LGBT people. This is a fantastic achievement and I’m so proud of all the hard work our volunteers and staff team do to improve the health and wellbeing of LGBT people.
 

Since we were first established in the early 1970s London Friend’s strength has always been its volunteers who have come together to support fellow LGBT people. The contribution of volunteers in the LGBT sector really cannot be underestimated.  So many of our community organisations that have been established to campaign, to protest and to support other LGBT people in times of need have grown from volunteer action, just like London Friend. The contribution volunteers make to London Friend is huge; running our support and social groups; staffing our helpline; providing counselling; supporting people with drug & alcohol problems through our Antidote service; fundraising; and helping our office run smoothly.

We have continued to innovate, launching our new SWAP structured weekend drug & alcohol programme earlier this year, and work to ensure our services embrace the diversity of our populations, such as through our T on Tuesday trans social group and our partnership supporting the Say It Loud Club, which supports LGBT refuges and asylum seekers fleeing persecution in Africa.

As well as the direct services we provide to clients London Friend has shared its experience with many health and social care professionals through training to raise awareness of the health needs of LGBT people. This work targets front line staff, commissioners and policy makers, and seeks to improve service planning as well as provision. Our 2014 Out Of You Mind report for example contains recommendations to improve drug & alcohol treatment for LGBT people with practical toolkits to enable change. Our strategic influence remains strong through our membership of the National LGB & T Partnership, working directly with Government, the NHS and Public Health England on LGBT health and equality.

The award recognises the importance of the work we do to improve the health and wellbeing of LGBT people in London. Just two days after we won the importance of this was highlighted in this weekend’s Observer survey of sexual behaviour and attitudes. This found that 16% of respondents thought gay sex should be illegal (the figure was higher in respondents living in London at 21%), and that still over a third believe same sex couples should not be permitted to marry (37%) or adopt children (39%). The Trans Mental Health Study 2012 found extremely high levels of harassment of trans people leading many to forego engagement in everyday social activities for fear of encountering this.

LGBT people still frequently overlooked

We have made many significant advances in LGBT equality but our service users continue to experience attitudes like this in the lead up to seeking support from us. Our own research indicates that LGBT people are still often excluded from planning health and wellbeing services such as through the statutory Joint Strategic Needs Assessments carried out by local authorities and health bodies. The omission and invisibility of LGBT people in public services, together with prevailing negative attitudes, leads to the Catch 22 of services users preferring an approach which specifically targets and includes them, with little resource made available to provide this specialist approach.

Services like London Friend, and many other LGBT charities and support groups, play a vital role in improving people’s lives every day. Despite LGBT people making up at least 2.5% of the population (at even the most conservative estimates) our sector receives just 0.04% of the total funding to voluntary sector organisations – just 4 pence in every £100. A recent report from the TUC suggests that this tiny under-investment may be under even greater threat as funders see cutting diversity as easy savings, mainstreaming this work into generic services. For me this would lose the quality that specialist LGBT organisations bring. Our service users routinely tell us they value specialist support as this makes them feel safe, welcome, and understood. It’s important that the value of specialist diversity organisations is not lost, and the National Diversity Awards recognise this, championing not just their ‘unsung’ contribution but also how their very existence is vital to the communities we serve.

I’m immensely proud to lead London Friend and for us to win this National Diversity Award for all our volunteers, staff and service users. I hope that this can extend to better recognition not just of our work but of the achievements and importance of the LGBT voluntary sector as a whole in public life. Please continue to support and invest in LGBT people’s wellbeing.

You can make a regular or one-off donation to support London Friend’s work here. You can donate your time as a volunteer – find out more about volunteering with us here. You can find our more about fundraising for us by holding your own event or sponsored activity here.

Monty

Take a look at what some of our services users and volunteers said in support of our nomination.

In June of this year the Antidote  team launched “ SWAP” the first ever Structured Weekend Antidote Programme, an intensive 4 week structured day programme (spread over 4 consecutive weekends) designed specifically to support clients to address issues around club drug use. The programme was a huge success (see below for feedback from SWAP participants) and we’re pleased to announce that we are now accepting referrals for the next programme due to start the first weekend in November.

Antidote has been, and remains, very much at the cutting edge of service provision for people whose lives have been affected by their use of club drugs and “legal” highs. We recognise that this client group, their patterns of use and subsequent treatment requirements require radically new approaches and SWAP has been developed as the result of years of research, experience and listening carefully to the feedback from our clients.

Who is it for?

SWAP is for men 18+  who identify as a Gay, Bi, trans or MSM (men who have sex with men) and feel that  their drug use is either already out of control, getting out of control or is having a negative impact on their lives. The programme is aimed at supporting people to take those steps that will lead to greater control over their use or who would like to become drug free altogether

What does it involve?

SWAP is an intensive group programme over 4 full weekends (11 – 4.00 Saturday & Sunday). It takes our clients through a series of workshops aimed at helping them to understand and explore issues such as:

• Relapse Prevention
• Sex (inc. sober sex) & Sexuality
• Self Esteem & Confidence
• Assertiveness
• Relationships
• Boundaries
• Social/intimacy anxiety
• Thinking patterns
• Goal setting, life planning & decision making
• Relaxation & stress management

There is also an opportunity to try complimentary therapies such as acupuncture, reflexology and mindfulness meditation techniques.

For further information on the programme, speak to Jamie or Toni  on 020 7833 1674 or visit http://londonfriend.org.uk/2012/2012/?p=3086

Some testimonials from our June programme

“Just to let you know that I was offered my dream job in one of the best firms I could have wished for. Without your help I wouldn't have achieved what I achieved in the past few months and would like to thank you again for your amazing support and guidance”

“I just wanted to say again how helpful the programme was and to thank you so much for everything. You'll be glad to hear that I'm just over 4 months chem-free now (i.e. no relapses since SWAP) and while it's still not easy, having done the course has made me a lot stronger.”

London Friend has been shortlisted for the LGBT Community Organisation category at The National Diversity Awards. The Awards are the UK’s largest diversity awards programme.

London Friend promotes improved health and well-being for lesbian gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people and is the UK’s oldest LGBT charity, having been established in 1972. The charity supports people coming out or exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity, and provides a range of services including social groups, a helpline, counselling, HIV prevention and the UK’s only LGBT-specific drug and alcohol service, Antidote.

The Awards received over 21,000 nominations this year, paying tribute to individuals and groups nationwide that have dedicated themselves to improving equality. London Friend is one of five LGBT charities shortlisted alongside other categories such as race, age, disability and gender. The winners will be announced at a black-tie gala dinner hosted by TV presenter Brian Dowling in The Hurlingham Club on 26^th September.

London Friend’s Chief Executive Monty Moncrieff said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have been shortlisted for this award, it’s a real opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of our many volunteers who support other LGBT people. London Friend is a small charity that makes a big impact on LGBT people’s lives, and being recognised like this is a real boost for our service users, volunteers and staff.”

London Friend has supported LGBT people for over 40 years. Its recent work with substance misuse and sexual health places it at the forefront of current LGBT health issues. Last year it provided services to over 3000 people. The service is supported by over 100 dedicated LGBT volunteers.

www.londonfriend.org.uk

www.nationaldiversityawards.co.uk

Yesterday the Home Office released the latest official figures on drug use in England & Wales. For the first time in five years they have been analysed by sexual orientation, giving us a rare comparison at how use differs for lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

The headline figure in the Crime Survey for England & Wales is that drug use in the past year amongst gay and bisexual men is three times higher (33%) than use amongst heterosexual men (11.1%). For lesbian and bisexual women use is more than four times as high (22.9%) than for heterosexual women (5.1%).

Just as for heterosexuals, the most commonly used illicit drug amongst LGB people is cannabis, used by around 1 in 5 gay or bi men, and 1 in 6 lesbian or bi women. Compared with heterosexuals these rates are again much higher: more than twice as high for gay and bi men and a whopping four and a half times higher for lesbian and bi women.

The figures, in fact, show higher use across all drugs by LGB people; unsurprisingly the largest difference is in the use of amyl nitrite (poppers), the second most commonly used drug by gay and bi men, and 25 times more common than amongst straight men. We also see large differences in ‘club’ drugs such as ecstasy (almost five times higher in LGB people) and ketamine (seven and a half times more common). Even drugs thought to be less associated with the gay community like heroin and crack cocaine see higher levels of use, although just as for heterosexuals use of these is thankfully very low.

One of the more noticeable discrepancies is the use of methamphetamine, or crystal meth. Globally the drug has been cited by the United Nations as the number one problem substance and has caused devastation amongst users in many countries. In the UK use is still very low, although we see here that it’s almost all amongst gay and bi men. This mirrors what we see in our own treatment service Antidote where crystal has grown from no presentations a decade ago to being used by more than half (51.3%) of the drug-using clients we saw last year. In the Crime Survey use amongst heterosexuals is so low as to be rounded down to zero for men and women combined.

We still don’t have all of the data

The official statistics don’t give us the full picture. Use within the gay scene has long been viewed as being where trends can begin, and it can take a while for official data to catch up. We don’t get separate analysis for former ‘legal highs’ GHB/GBL or mephedrone, for example, although we know these have become significant issues for some LGB people. Last year 46% of Antidote clients seeking drug treatment was for GHB/GBL, and a massive 64% for mephedrone, a drug that was virtually unheard of until just five years ago.

Thankfully it’s not all a dismal picture. Comparing the data with the figures released in 2009 we do see a small drop in drug use overall amongst lesbian, gay and bisexual people, which mirrors the trend in wider society. The disproportion, however, remains; rates are still similarly high in our populations.

The reasons for this difference are widely discussed and probably stem from a mix of factors; our primary association by identity as LGB people is done in bars and clubs, and we can usually stay at play longer than our heterosexual counterparts with responsibility for childcare still less common. Certainly we normalise longer partying behaviour, and more recently drugs have crept increasingly into our bedrooms with chemsex noticeably on the rise amongst some gay and bi men. When drugs are used less for fun but to self-medicate we know all too well that the reasons – depression, anxiety, prejudice – are more prevalent in our populations too.

The availability of this data after a gap of some years highlights the importance of routine monitoring of sexual orientation to allow us to identify significant differences such as these. Whilst anecdotally we may feel there’s little new here – and to be frank, that’s true – don’t underestimate the importance of an official stat: the paucity of evidence available to analyse by sexual orientation (and it’s even worse surrounding trans identities) means that our needs are frequently overlooked, omitted from local health needs assessments, and subsequently not considered in the planning and provision of support services.

Raising awareness, improving treatment

We recently examined the impact of this for LGBT people seeking drug & alcohol treatment and make many recommendations for its improvement in our report Out Of Your Mind. It’s a useful tool for policy makers, commissioners, providers and front-line drug and alcohol workers seeking to improve their LGBT competence strategically and individually. Through our strategic partners in the National LGB & T Partnership we also supported the publication of an LGBT companion document to the Public Health Outcomes Framework, a resource which identifies LGBT health inequalities and available evidence and maps it to the national standards for measuring success. It’s essential reading for all local public health staff and anyone with an interest in improving LGBT health.

Drugs, along with alcohol and tobacco, will feature prominently in Public Health England’s forthcoming strategy to improve the health and wellbeing of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. We’re already working with PHE to achieve some of the actions set out in a recent draft. It’s a great start, but needs to be extended to improve lesbian and bisexual women and trans people’s health too.

Our website has information on drugs and alcohol as well as tips to play more safely if you are using. Our Antidote service can help if your use is becoming more problematic, with support to cut down or stop altogether. We offer walk-in assessments from two weekly drop-ins and work in partnership with three sexual health clinics each week. Last year 90% of our service users stopped using or reduced to a level they were comfortable with. Antidote also provides training and other support to improve drug and alcohol treatment for LGBT people.

Monty

Would you like to help with London Friend’s fundraising and publicity? We’re looking to establish a team of existing and new volunteers to develop our fundraising and engagement with the LGBT community. The team will be responsible for:

• Increasing community fundraising
• Engaging with LGBT venues and businesses to develop fundraising and publicity opportunities
• Encouraging LGBT and other supporters to do sponsored events for London Friend
• Develop our plans for corporate fundraising & events
• Increasing regular monthly giving

We’re seeking people who have experience in this field, but also people who have enthusiasm and want to get involved for the first time. We’re also looking for new volunteers to join this team so please let your friends and families know too.

Please get in touch with our volunteer coordinator Rita to express your interest; we’ll be holding an initial meeting in August.

rita@londonfriend.org.uk

If you or your friends are unable to be involved at present you can still support our fundraising with a regular or one-off donation. Sign up online here or contact us for more information.

A big thank you to London Friend volunteers, staff and supporters for making Pride 2014 so enjoyable. We hosted a sumptuous pre-Pride breakfast for our walking group before launching ourselves onto the (rain drenched) streets. Nothing could dampen the wonderful spirit on the parade, and we were particularly proud to have been joined by the Say it Loud Club - a support group for African LGBT people seeking asylum in the UK. A big congratulations to Pride London for organising such a fabulous event. For more pics visit our facebook page.

Credit:Lauren Anderson (latter 2 pictures)

1^st – 7^th June marks Volunteers Week, celebrating the actions of millions of volunteers in the UK. The week is now in its 30^th year, promoting the value of volunteering.

At London Friend our work is supported by over 100 volunteers each month, and it’s not overstating it to say we literally couldn’t provide the services we do without the valuable time people donate. Last year our volunteers ran 16 support groups each month to over 1300 LGBT service users. They staffed our telephone helpline supporting almost 450 LGBT people. They supported 124 LGBT people through counselling. They also provided drug and alcohol information and support to over 2000 LGBT people in our Antidote clinics and outreach services. On top of all that volunteers supported vital back-office functions to ensure the organisation keeps running from week to week.

Those figures are hugely impressive and the support has enabled LGBT people to take more control of their health and well-being. I’d like to extend my personal thanks on behalf of the London Friend staff team to everyone who has volunteered their time to support their fellow LGBT people over the past year, and throughout our 40+ year history. What an amazing achievement!

A new report this week from the Citizens Advice Bureau indicates that 4 out of 5 people think volunteering improves their health. I’m not at all surprised to read this. Volunteering is something I am passionate about. Back in the 1990s volunteering was my route into working in the LGBT sector, and I spent almost 10 years as a volunteer with the London Lesbian & Gay Switchboard, an organisation I’m proud London Friend still partners with today.

I had rang Switchboard on a couple of occasions; once for some simple information, but another time in the middle of the night at a point when I was so floored by something that had happened to me I just needed to speak to someone who would listen. I received incredible support during that phone call and afterwards vowed to become involved myself, as a thank you for having been there when I needed the service.

Volunteering gave me the opportunity not only to feel I was supporting my community but also to develop skills that I find useful now in my role as Chief Executive. It also helped me forge lasting friendships, and meet a range of people I’d never have met by just going to the same bars and clubs on the scene.

Being the person that people spoke to about their lives, their identities and their challenges was a privilege. It helped me to remember what it was like to come out, to explore my own identity and work out who I was. It was also a reminder of the difficult situations life can throw our way, and that we all need support from time to time, support that over 100 volunteers now provide to our service users each month.

The value of volunteering is very clear to me; giving my time had a hugely beneficial impact on my own life, and I hope that I was able to have some impact on the wellbeing of the people I spoke to. Like many of our LGBT partner organisations London Friend – and our sector – would not survive without the impact of LGBT volunteers who over the years have organised themselves to meet the changing needs of our communities. We, like many other LGBT charities, exist as a legacy of this work, advancing LGBT equality, tacking HIV, and working collectively to improve the health and wellbeing of our fellow LGBT people. What a difference we have made together.

Monty

For more information about volunteering with London Friend see here. For volunteering opportunities with other LGBT organisations check out our friends at the LGBT Consortium who support hundreds of LGBT organisations and groups across the country. If you are unable to donate your time, you can support London Friend by making a one-off or regular financial donation here.

To mark Volunteers’ Week some of our amazing volunteers tell their stories about volunteering for London Friend. Here’s Marco's story.

I am a volunteer counsellor at London Friend and am very proud to be part of it.  I started only one year ago to pursue the official requirements for accreditation with various psychotherapy bodies and hope to be able to reach out to those in our Gender Sexual Diversities community who are in need.

Not only have I found a welcoming atmosphere and a non-judgemental attitude, paramount to all members from volunteers to staff, but I have also found a new sense of being free and useful at the same time. It is increasingly changing my life as I constantly receive and give active listening, empathy and aid in reaching my objectives.

This in fact influences not only my working life but also my personal life as within the group of volunteers I have a variety of living models and am enabled to choose the life I want, “normalising” my behaviour and giving me a sense of belonging. Ultimately volunteering at London Friend makes me feel alive and active.

Any service user who presents to London Friend is as welcome as the people who come to volunteer. There is a huge amount of work to be done in the Gender Sexual Diversity community and either donating some hours or giving a helping hand with some activities will allow more people in our community to live freely and actively.

Marco

To find out more about volunteering with London Friend see here. To support our work with a one-off or regular donation see here.

To mark Volunteers’ Week some of our amazing volunteers tell their stories about volunteering for London Friend. Here’s Helen's story.

I've been volunteering as a facilitator at a coming out support and discussion group for women at London Friend since 2009. We always tell new members how brave they are; we don't often talk about how scary it can be to start volunteering. There's nothing like being among new people to remind you of the things you feel self-conscious about, not least when most of them are looking to you to run the session!

As a gay Christian, I'm used to feeling a bit self-conscious about both those aspects - too gay in church and too Christian in the LGBT community. When it came to volunteering at London Friend, knowing only too well the negative experiences of religion that you can encounter as an L,G,B and/or T person, I was particularly worried that group members would be angered by the fact that I went to church or would find it hard to trust me and I'd lose credibility as a facilitator.

Over time though the fact that I've worked through my own anxieties around faith and sexuality and know about some LGBT-friendly religious groups and welcoming local churches has actually turned out to be something of an asset.

If your faith matters to you it can be a huge relief to know that it's not irreconcilable with your sexuality and it's been a wonderful privilege to be able to help people at such a vulnerable time for them.

More than anything I've come to realise that rather than worrying about fitting in, it's actually vital that volunteers reflect the diversity of the community.

You never know who is coming through the door and it may just be that what you think is a potential problem is the very thing that can help someone out.

Helen

To find out more about volunteering with London Friend see here. To support our work with a one-off or regular donation see here.

To mark Volunteers' Week some of our amazing volunteers tell their stories about volunteering for London Friend. Here's Tom's story.

A year ago I made the huge decision of leaving my long-term job and wanted to see what else life could offer.

I knew that I didn't want to jump from one job into another so decided to volunteer at London Friend. What I didn't realise was how that decision would shape the year ahead.

From initially facilitating at social groups, staffing the helpline to becoming a keyworker at Antidote, it has been a satisfying year of discovery, not only about my capabilities but also to my understanding of people seeking help.

By working with people seeking help you realise that it is a position any one of us could find ourselves in. It is just down to circumstance and choices we make. There is no social standing that makes any of us immune from those situations.

By donating my time, I have learned a whole new set of skills that have enabled me to take a new path in my career. I am now in adult education, learning to become a counsellor and discovering the wonders of psychology.

When you meet a new client at London Friend you know, whatever has gone before, they are a new challenge and will enrich your knowledge and understanding.

The last year has been a great step towards defining my future career path and it's been a pleasure working with and learning from so many volunteers and clients.

I look forward to the next year and what that will bring!

Tom