Friday, July 30, 2010

The Cuthbert Funds

WGWG has approximately $120,000 remaining from the Peter Cuthbert bequest. This fund has been critical to help us employ Brendan (and Hanna) to run Schools Out. It has also provided a lot of assistance to help men with HIV. This month we granted $800 to help a Wellingtonian with HIV pay bills and keep his business on track.

Peter Cuthbert passed away in 1988. He was one of the very first New Zealanders to contract HIV back in 1984. Bill spoke at Peter’s funeral. Here’s an extract from Bill’s speech:

"This was a man who was a supporter, a proper up of people, and a man who served his community. He was a man who gave a great deal. We have lost someone very special."

It’s a credit to Peter’s generosity that he is still supporting the gay and lesbian community today, over 20 years later.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

July Training - DLOs from the NZ Police

Our July training guests were Karen and Kirsten, two of Wellington’s Diversity Liaison Officers (DLOs) in the Police.

The DLO is a part-time role which began back in 2004. Today there are 70 DLOs around the country. We have three locals - in Wellington, Porirua and the Hutt. DLOs have experience to support people under stress from society. They are particularly good at dealing with bullying and homophobia.

Their advice was to go to a DLO if you’re part of the queer community and you’re not getting good police satisfaction. Just phone the communications centre and ask for a DLO.

You’ll see the DLOs around the capital – they even came along to Out in the Square. Check out more information about them on the Police website.