North Midlands LGBT Older Peoples Group A Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) Registered Charity number: 1186844
Annual Report 2024 April 2023-March 2024
Web: olgbtstoke.org.uk Email: olgbt2009@gmail.com facebook.com/OLGBT @OLGBT_N_Staffs Tel: 07757 750255 (please text us or leave a voice message)
Postal Address: 1 Linley Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 6AX
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About Our Charity
North Midlands LGBT Older Peoples Group (OLGBT)
Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
Registered Charity 1186844
Trustees: Maurice Greenham (Chair), Andrew Colclough (Vice Chair), Joe Waring (Treasurer), Stephen Malkin, Antony Forst.
Object (paragraph 3 of Constitution) Certified 19 December 2019
The object of the CIO is the promotion of social inclusion for the public benefit by working with people who are socially excluded on the grounds of their gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation (in particular lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people) to meet the needs of such people and assist them to fully participate in society, in particular by: (a) providing a local network group that encourages and enables LGBT+ people to participate more effectively with the wider community and (b) increasing, or co-ordinating, opportunities for LGBT+ people to engage with service providers, to enable those providers to adapt services to better meet the needs of those people.
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Combatting Isolation and Loneliness
At the beginning of last year, the board developed a strategy and workplan that took into account the feedback obtained from our members. This set out our priorities for the things that we would endeavour to achieve in 2023/2024
In the reporting period from April 2023 to March 2024, the OLGBT group held 51 support meetings, of which 12 were in-person at Fenton Town Hall Café, 12 at Summer Street Community Centre, Stoke, and the remainder online via Zoom. The new regular meeting at summer Street fulfils our workplan consideration to have another in-person meeting each month and reduce our online Zoom meetings.
With financial support from the Community Health Champions scheme, we have been able to offer free lunches at all Fenton Town Hall meetings, meeting another consideration in the 2023-2024 workplan.
Events and Activities
The provisional commitment to Discover Digital in our workplan developed into a valuable partnership with the Beth Johnson Foundation (BJF) and Staffordshire University. OLGBT members gained confidence in using online tools and learned how to protect themselves from Internet fraud. Our partnership with BJF has continued with joint, monthly ‘tea and tech sessions and a community library project that included creating a book of poetry ‘Spilled Words’.
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Trips and Outings are always popular with members, they not only fulfil the primary purpose of the charity in strengthening bonds within the group, but also enable LGBT+ people to participate more effectively with the wider community. Donations from outside sources like Berryhill Retirement Village have helped towards the cost of outings such as the day trip on the Caldon canal.
Undoubtedly, the most successful outing was the trip to London to visit Queer Britain museum and other places of LGBT+ interest. This was achieved in collaboration with Appetite based at the New Vic Theatre who organised the trip and covered its costs. On the journeys to and back from London, our members engaged with other local LGBT+ people from Staffordshire Sexual Health Charity, Students from Keele University, Appetite staff, as well as with the wider public.
Photo credit Andrew Billington andrewbillingtonphotography.com
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Projects of creative arts activities have, in the past, been a way of ensuring members meet more often to engage in activities which are beneficial for their health and wellbeing. This year, we took the opportunity to work in partnership with three larger charities on a Creative Lives, Know Your Neighbourhood project that allowed OLGBT members to engage in creative activities with individuals from the Beth Johnson Foundation (BJF), the Methodist Homes Association (MHA) and Fr Hudson’s Charity. OLGBT undertook the organisation and running of Singing sessions at Fenton Town Hall. The entire project was a great success with all of the charities expressing the wish to work together again.
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The group’s fifteenth anniversary is in December 2024. This has given impetus for the group to create and engage in LGBT+ history projects. In addition to the trip to Queer Britain, already mentioned, we have worked with Potboiler Theatre Gay Stoke project and the creation of an opera by B-Arts based on the history and legends around Molly Leigh. In February, LGBT+ History Month, we began work on writing a book of the history of the OLGBT Group.
OLGBT group continues to engage with the annual Stoke Pride and other LGBT events such as LGBT History Month.
Our mailing list, which is open to all adults, increased from 250 to 270. More significantly, the number of members and prospective members has risen from 60 to 104.
Sadly, our oldest member, Geraldo, died at the age of 93. Geraldo was a remarkable, vivacious character who lived life to the full. He was with us for our lunchtime meeting at Fenton Town Hall, the next morning, he died on his way to his Spanish class. Geraldo is fondly remembered and greatly missed.
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Community Health Champions
The North Midlands LGBT Older Peoples Group is a partner of the Community Health Champions initiative co-ordinated by VAST.
Since participating in the NHS Community Health Champion scheme, the group has four health champions who have overseen regular health messages delivered in-person by healthcare professionals, as well as digitally through our
weekly mailings and monthly newsletters. We recently published a summary of our achievements on our website - olgbtstoke.org.uk/reports
Communications
Website
Our website has been comprehensively redesigned and updated to better meet the needs of members and to promote our organisation.
Newsletter and Mailings
We have produced a Newsletter every month throughout the period and kept in touch with our members and prospective members through weekly emails as well as by phone and personal contact.
We include health information from Community Health Champions and tips from Discover Digital in every mailing.
Social Media
We now have a Facebook page and private group, a twitter account and a WhatsApp group. All have been used within the reporting period, with the WhatsApp group proving the most popular.
Phone
We have a new mobile phone staffed by volunteers which we regularly check for voicemails, texts and WhatsApp messages.
Thank you to all our members and supporters We look forward to another successful year!
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North MldlaTTrdJ LGBTOlder Peo les Gro Fin nce Statement FY 01 A rll Z023 to 31 March 2024 111 Intome & Expendlture Restrl¢ted unre5trlCd Total Prior Year 2022123 Donations Grant5 Total Income 567 3000 567 4076 511 2454 2965 1076 Expenditure Misc, insurance etc 979 130 979 130 260 3717 347 150 2675 3172 Project costs Tota5 Expenditure 702 1906 Surplu51-Deficit 374 552 926 -207 alance sheer as al 31 March 2024 Bank & Cash b/f 0110412023 126 825 951 1158 Siirplusl-Dèficit for yèar 374 552 926 Bank& Cash clf 3110312024 51X> 1377 1877 951