News

Today we bid a sad but fond farewell to Toni, our Antidote drug and alcohol service manager who is retiring. Toni was a volunteer with Project LSD, an LGBTQ+ drug and alcohol service that was set up in the 1990s. In 2002 it merged with LGB Alcohol Project and expanded to form Antidote. Toni joined Antidote as a trainee counsellor, later becoming our first full-time drug and alcohol worker, and then in 2007 took over as Antidote Manager. Toni’s many achievements include developing Antidote’s first response to the emerging issues of chemsex in the late 2000s as newer drugs changed

We’re standing with over 20 charities to urge the next Government to deliver on historic goal of zero HIV cases by 2030. With just five years until 2030, our joint manifesto One Parliament Left, sets out the urgent actions Parliament must take to achieve this commitment. We can end new HIV transmissions in the UK by 2030 and ensure everyone living with HIV can live a long, healthy life. We could even be the first country in the world to do so. But there are less than 6 weeks until polls open and the UK elects the parliament that will

This week marked Matt Horwood’s last day as Chair of the Board of Trustees for London Friend. Mubeen Ahmed, who joined the board in 2023, was this week voted by Matt and the wider board as our new Chair. Matt has provided pivotal support since joining the board in 2018 and stepping up as Chair in 2021. This has included him leading the recruitment of a brand new board, helping to steer the development of London Friend’s new brand identity and working to bolster our communications efforts in particular when we celebrated our 50th birthday in 2022. Matt said: “Being

We’re very sad to learn of the death of one of London Friend’s longest-standing supporters, David Flemming. A long-time service user, David offered much-valued peer support to others attending our men’s groups Turning Point and Mattrix for many years. Our Turning Point volunteers paid tribute to David: London Friend recently lost one of its dearest long-standing supporters, David Flemming. David, a valued member of Turning Point and Mattrix will be sorely missed by volunteers and all who accessed the groups. In the early 70’s David walked through the doors of London Friend, as a man in need, who was unsure

Our 50th Birthday Heritage website is now live and can be found here! This website has been made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of London Friend, the UK’s oldest LGBTQ+ charity. It features two main projects: A timeline of the history of London Friend since its founding in 1972 to the present, which has been put together through extensive archival research. An extended version of this timeline can be found in the form of our Project Booklet. A list of 50 LGBTQ+ Londoners that have shaped the LGBTQ+ scene in London and have helped advance the mission of London Friend. Feel

To celebrate Volunteers Week 2022, we have asked some of London Friend’s wonderful volunteers about their experience volunteering for us. A huge thank you to the volunteers that participated, and to all of our volunteers for your time and hard work that you put into volunteering for us. We are forever grateful, and could not run without you.  London Friend is a volunteer run organisation with a small staff team but 100+ volunteers that keep our services running. Some are volunteer counsellors, some are group facilitators, some help out with admin, and some help out with our drug and alcohol