Group Activities

At the first meeting that I ran for the group in October 2006, we had a talk from Martin Hogg (Counsellor) around life coaching and counselling, and the clients were asked if they wanted to take up any life coaching or counselling appointments. This has proved to be very popular, with excellent feedback from the men who have taken on the counselling/life coaching so far.

In November Ian Morrall from Walsall GUM Clinic came and delivered a talk about safer sex, STIs and sexual health promotion along with an HIV update, which was very well received.

In December we went for a Christmas meal at the Fellows Arms, which is a gay-friendly pub in Dudley, with 17 members of the group attending. This was a very successful event.

In January we talked about where the clients wanted the group to go. It was suggested that maybe the group should be client-led, and ideas for this year were discussed. The issues covered to date have been:

  • Sexuality and coming out
  • Housing
  • Abuse
  • Services for gay men
  • Hate crime and discrimination
  • Homophobia
  • Gay married men, bisexual men, and men who have sex with men – issues around self-identity
  • Workplace issues
  • Sexual health information inc. condom/lube available
  • Isolation
  • Civil partnerships

The consistently high, and steadily increasing, turnout for the monthly Saturday meeting demonstrates that there is clearly a demand for a second meeting each month, or at least for a longer meeting. This would necessitate the recruitment of another part time member of staff to support the project. Currently project staff form Summit House are acting as a second member of staff to support the weekend openings.