CHESHIRE CHEESE News & Information for Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual people in the county 193: February/March 2012 -------------------------------------------- Regard - for Disabled LGBT People REGARD is a national, volunteer run organisation of disabled lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered people. The aims of the organisation are: 1. To offer information and advice to our members and disabled LGBT people 2. To combat the social isolation of our members 3. To advocate disabled issues to the LGBT community and LGBT issues to the disabled community. 4. To campaign on issues affecting disabled LGBT people REGARD have a newsletter and also a couple of online groups for their members: Regard Online for news and notices and Regard Chat for discussion and more social contacts. For further information, you can contact them through secretary@regard.org.uk, write to BM Regard, London WC1N 3XX or visit www.regard.org.uk -------------------------------------------- Outrite Social Groups Outrite are now running social groups at a number of venues around the county. The groups offer the opportunity to explore your sexuality and peer mentoring opportunities, make new friends and explore issues that are important to you. Call 01270 653156 if you would be interested in attending any of the groups which run on the following days: Crewe: Every Monday 7pm - 9.30pm Macclesfield: Last Wednesday in the month 7pm - 9.00pm Runcorn: 3rd Thursday of the month 7pm - 9pm Widnes: 2nd Wednesday of the month 7pm - 9pm St Helens: 1st Thursday of the month 7pm - 9pm -------------------------------------------- LGBT Adoption and Fostering LGBT Adoption and Fostering Week is UK-wide event taking place from 20-26 February which is designed to help lesbian and gay couples find out more about adopting and fostering children. Hugh Thornbery, Strategic Director of Children’s Services at Action for Children, said: “Over the years, our LGBT foster carers and adopters have helped to transform many children’s lives. We welcome more applications from LGBT foster carers and adopters; the main thing is that you are able to give children and young people the care and support they need to be happy and fulfilled.” A number of events will be taking place across the country during the week and you can find all the details by visiting www.lgbtadoptfosterweek.org.uk. -------------------------------------------- SPEAK OUT SPEAK OUT is a survey for young people who are aged 11 to 19 and who are lesbian, gay or bisexual (or think they might be). The survey is about your experiences in school or college. The survey is being carried out by researchers in the Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge for Stonewall, the organisation that campaigns for equality for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people. Five years ago Stonewall carried out the first big study about LGB young people’s experiences at school. That survey showed that many LGB young people were bullied and that a lot of schools didn’t do anything about it. Stonewall have used the information from that survey to work to try to improve things. This survey will show what things are like now, whether things have changed and what still needs to be done to make things better. The survey is about your experiences in school or college – if your school helps you, how it deals with bullying and what it could do better. You can take part if you are at school or college (including FE college) in England, Scotland or Wales, or have recently left; are aged between 11 and 19; and are lesbian, gay or bisexual (or think you might be). Tell anyone you know about the survey if you think they might want to take part. Everything you say is completely confidential and anonymous. If you request a paper version of the survey, your contact details will be destroyed once it has sent out to you. The paper version won’t ask for any details about you. For futher information contact speakout@sdp.cam.ac.uk, call 01223334580 or write to Helen and Vasanti, Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3RF. You can complete the online survey at: http://ppsisfaculty.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_abc9NjCxvFNRBnS -------------------------------------------- Barclays Donate to Body Positive Mark Gavin, community support worker with Body Positive Cheshire and North Wales (BPCNW), accepts a cheque on behalf of the organisation from James Pearse, Leader of Barclays "Spectrum Network" North West, to the tune of a whopping £1720.00 following fundraising events held around World Aids Day. Barclays Spectrum Network spans the entire Barclays Group and supports Barclays LGBT employees, who for the second year running, have pulled together in the form of dress down days, cake sales and an auction, to raise much needed monies on behalf of Body Positive Cheshire and North Wales. Staff from Radbroke Hall in Knutsford, Millshaw Court in Leeds and Ashley Byrom House in Manchester all took part and raised a bundle. Following this success Barclays Bank then matched the raised funds pound for pound. Paul Marsh, Director of Services at BPCNW commented, "We'd like to thank everyone who took part in these fundraising events, the members of the Spectrum Group and Barclays Bank. All monies raised will contribute towards the much needed services we provide across the area." -------------------------------------------- 'Listening to You' LGBT Awareness Conference Staffordshire Police LGBT Association invite you to attend their ‘Listening to You’ LGBT Awareness Conference to be held on Thursday 9th February 2012 9.30am – 3.30pm at Britannia Stadium, Stanley Matthews Way, Stoke on Trent. The conference will be opened by the Chief Constable Mike Cunningham and will hear from the following guest speakers: Staffordshire Fire & Rescue Chief Fire Officer - Peter Dartford. Stonewall (Education for all Program) - Chris Gibbons. Same Sex Domestic Violence (Martin Training & Consultancy) - Luke Martin. 'Kick it Out' - Danny Lynch & Former England player - Earl Barrett (Homophobia in Football). Trans Awareness (Keele University) - Professor Alex Sharpe. This event is free to community members and £25 for organisations and agencies, food & refreshments will be provided. To register please e-mail: diversity.unit@staffordshire.pnn.police.uk -------------------------------------------- Gonorrhoea Gay men are being encouraged to test regularly for sexually-transmitted disease gonorrhoea. Recently, health experts warned that some strains of the disease are becoming immune to treatments. Gonorrhoea is a bacterial infection that, among gay men, is passed on through unprotected anal or oral sex and can spread to the throat, rectum or penis. If left untreated, it can cause serious health problems, as well as making it easier to pick up or pass on HIV. In men, symptoms can include drops of white or yellowish-green discharge from the end of the penis, pain when passing urine, or discomfort in the rectum. However, some cases have no symptoms. Using condoms during anal sex will help guard against infection, but won’t protect you completely. It’s also passed on through oral sex and, if you have it in your throat, you may not have symptoms but will still be infectious. It is recommended that all gay and bisexual men get a full check-up at their local sexual health clinic every six months. You can find contact details for all local clinics on the back page of this edition. -------------------------------------------- The Cheeseboard, listings of what's happening in and around Cheshire are available through the printed edtion of Cheshire Cheese, available free of charge from the address below, or by visiting www.cheshirecheese.org.uk -------------------------------------------- Cheshire Cheese PO Box 321 Crewe CW2 7WZ Telephone 01270 653150 Fax 01270 653158 Email info@cheshirecheese.org.uk Website www.cheshirecheese.org.uk Editorial Contact Chris Flewitt Deadline 194 22 March 2012 ©2012 Body Positive Cheshire & North Wales (Charity No. 1009850)