{"id":3872,"date":"2015-12-23T12:31:42","date_gmt":"2015-12-23T11:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/?p=3872"},"modified":"2015-12-23T12:35:00","modified_gmt":"2015-12-23T11:35:00","slug":"christmas-new-year-support-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/christmas-new-year-support-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas &#038; New Year Support"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1>Christmas &amp; New Year support<\/h1>\n<h1><\/h1>\n<h3>The festive season can be a lot of fun, but for some people it\u2019s a time of heightened anxiety. It\u2019s the season to be jolly, but sometimes that can tip over into excess. Here\u2019s some information to keep you safer over the Christmas and New Year period.<\/h3>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re partying know your limits. Everyone likes to let their hair down at Christmas but that morning glass of fizz can catch up with you if you\u2019re still going by the evening, and parties do tend to last longer and be more frequent at this time of the year. You can find our tips for cutting back and pacing your drinking\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/2012\/soberstart\/antidotes-tips-for-cutting-down-on-booze\/\">here<\/a>. Don\u2019t forget that we are inviting people to join us for a <a href=\"http:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/2012\/soberstart\/\">Sober Start to 2016<\/a>, going booze-free for a month. You can sign up to fundraise for us via a sponsored alcohol-free January or donate to the campaign via <a href=\"http:\/\/campaign.justgiving.com\/charity\/londonfriend\/soberstart2016\">Just Giving<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3878 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/2012\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Christmas-Pudding_Colour-340x375.jpg\" alt=\"Christmas-Pudding_Colour\" width=\"340\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Christmas-Pudding_Colour-340x375.jpg 340w, https:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Christmas-Pudding_Colour-768x848.jpg 768w, https:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Christmas-Pudding_Colour-927x1024.jpg 927w, https:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Christmas-Pudding_Colour.jpg 1092w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 340px) 100vw, 340px\" \/>If you\u2019re going to be partying using drugs you can find lots of information about reducing the risk\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/2012\/get-support\/drugsandalcohol\/info-for-playing-safely\/\">here<\/a>. Remember to look out for your friends, and if anyone at your party overdoses call 999.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re having sex, or hoping to see the New Year in with a (gang) bang remember to stock up with plenty of condoms and lube. Gay &amp; bisexual men will find plenty of safer sexual health advice over at the website of our friends at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gmfa.org.uk\/\">GMFA<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If you think you may have picked up an unwanted gift due to exposure to\u00a0an HIV risk you can seek advice &amp; PEP (within no more than 72 hours) from a GUM clinic such as\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.chelwest.nhs.uk\/services\/hiv-sexual-health\/clinics\/56-dean-street\">56 Dean Street<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnwl.nhs.uk\/service\/mortimer-market-centre\/\">Mortimer Market Centre<\/a>\u00a0or<a href=\"http:\/\/www.burrellstreet.co.uk\/\">Burrell Street<\/a>\u00a0in central London. If these are closed you can access PEP through your local A&amp;E. In Central London these can be found at:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>University College Hospital<\/p>\n<p>235 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BU<\/p>\n<p>Tel: 0845 155 5000<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Chelsea and Westminster Hospital<\/p>\n<p>369 Fulham Road, London, SW10 9NH<\/p>\n<p>Tel: 020 8746 8000<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>St Thomas\u2019 Hospital<\/p>\n<p>Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7EH<\/p>\n<p>Tel: 020 7188 7188<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If you feel alone this Christmas and want to talk to another LGBT person our friends\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/switchboard.lgbt\/\">Switchboard<\/a>\u00a0will have their helpline open daily 10am \u2013 11pm. If you are at risk of abuse or violence at home,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/brokenrainbowuk\/posts\/1118798218137846:0\">Broken Rainbow<\/a>\u00a0has published some tips along with details of their Christmas opening times, including Christmas Day. The charity Crisis has opened its\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.crisis.org.uk\/news.php\/1045\/crisis-at-christmas-doors-open\">Christmas centres\u00a0<\/a>for homeless people and will run until December 30<sup>th<\/sup>. If you feel suicidal you can call <a href=\"http:\/\/www.samaritans.org\/\">Samaritans<\/a>\u00a024 hours a day. In an emergency go to your local A&amp;E.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>London Friend\u2019s services will resume on Monday 4<sup>th<\/sup> January as normal. Our Antidote drug &amp; alcohol drop-in will run on that day 11 \u2013 1 in Kings Cross.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We wish you a happy, safe Christmas and a healthy 2016.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>London Friend<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Christmas &amp; New Year support The festive season can be a lot of fun, but for some people it\u2019s a time of heightened anxiety. It\u2019s the season to be jolly, but sometimes that can tip over into excess. Here\u2019s &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/christmas-new-year-support-2015\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3872"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3872"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3880,"href":"https:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3872\/revisions\/3880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londonfriend.org.uk\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}