Monday, October 31, 2011

George's School's Out Report

School's Out has just come back from the holiday break. We had some really good sharing stories at the Kapiti group and some refreshing games at the Wellington group to take the edge off having to be back at school.

Over the break we met up at Central Park for a picnic, played on the flying foxes and ate a tonne of hummus. Heaps of lovely people came along from the Legalise Love march that was on the same day, as well as a group from Tranzform.

Ch-ch-ch-ch- changes:

We got an 18-25 group going successfully, this group will meet up fortnightly for social times.

We are using an agony aunt box, in which people can anonymously put questions about stuff. Did you know we use 'cold toast' as a word to indicate when a topic of conversation is bad buzzing us out? It's quite useful sometimes :)

Kassie and I are now employed! To do stuff for School's Out! We are both very thrilled to be doing part time roles and you will undoubtedly hear heaps more from us in future. We will be supporting the work of our wonderful volunteers and consolidating and growing the program in the area.

Don't forget you can contact us to find out info, or if you're a young person and want to come along to our groups or events, just text or call 0277639793 or send us an email on queer_schools_out@hotmail.com.

Cheers,

George

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Come to the next Newcomers meeting!

Newcomers is a confidential support group for guys coming out. We meet every second Wednesday from 6pm to 7.30pm. The next meeting is this coming Wednesday 2 November. We talk about people's stories and coming out issues, as well as what's on in the community. If you or someone you know is interested in coming along, email us at newcomers@gaywellington.org or give us a call on 473-7878.

Here's what one of the 19 October attendees said after the meeting:

“The meeting was definately worth coming to. Being able to talk to others in a non-bar setting makes a lot of difference I think! Some of what was said made me laugh hard, and some of what was said was slightly disturbing, but that was the point of the whole meeting, right! I’ll definately make an effort to come to the next meeting.”

Lesbian drop-in

Here's an update from Jo about the monthly lesbian drop-in, which is a group for any women new to the queer scene in Wellington:

Several of us went to see the Italian movie Sea Purple in October and then met for a drink afterwards to discuss some of the delicious parts of the scenery ...haha :-)

There will be a change in day for the next few Drop-Ins - they will be the first Wednesday of the month. Usually we'll meet at Blondinis cafe/bar at the Embassy Theatre. Find out more by phoning Helpline on 473 7878 or emailing me at jo.morrison.nz@gmail.com.

I want to thank funders of our group and members of WGWG for supporting me to go on a course next month. I will present my learnings upon return. Peace, Jo

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Gays of the Hutt (GOTH)

GOTH (Gays of the Hutt) is a gay mens social group that meets regularly in the Hutt for pot luck dinners. It has been running successfuly for well over 10 years.

The group gets together on the second Saturday of each month from 7.30pm-10pm (from February-November). The attendees tend to be in the more mature age group (35 plus) and numbers vary from about 7-15 people each month.

GOTH welcomes men from Wellington city, Upper Hutt and further afield.

Contact GOTH by phoning the Wellington Gay & Lesbian helpline on 473 7878 or emailing helpline@gaywellington.org (provide your contact details so GOTH can phone you back).

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Join Us!

Gay Wellington is holding its next volunteer training day on Saturday 19th November 2011 from 9.30am to around 4pm.

If you'd like to get involved and give something back to the community call us on 473-7878 or email helpline@gaywellington.org. You'll be joining a group of over 30 volunteers with a wide range of age and experience.

You choose what you want to do, from taking helpline phone calls to assisting with groups like School's Out, Newcomers, the Lesbian Drop-In and the Cuthbert HIV Grants Committee. You can also help out with day-to-day tasks like fundraising, promotion or social activities.

It's an excellent way for you to develop new skills in life, find out what's going on, and meet new people.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

News from our October meeting

About 17 of the Gay Wellington folk met on Tuesday evening and talked about our database, the national database work being done by gayline, and changes we'll be making to our website. Here's some of the news:

- Our next new volunteer intake day will be Saturday 19th November - phone or email us if you'd like to join
- Mike Nolan won the contract to upgrade our website. A big thanks to everyone else who offered to help, we really appreciated it
- We continue to provide financial support to a homeless GLBTI youth
- George resigned as co-chair now that she's a School's Out employee, and Sara asked for time out as secretary while she finishes her studies
- Sara, Kassie and Liam got voted in as new members
- Our finance committee meets next Tuesday. Money ideas and donations always welcome!
- On the horizon we're planning a Xmas do in December and we're aiming for a helpline training day with invitations to OutlineNZ in February.

Whew - it was a busy night!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

School’s Out appointments to support Wellington queer youth

School’s Out has been actively supporting Wellington queer youth for over a decade, under the umbrella of Wellington Gay Welfare Group (Gay Wellington), a registered charity.

Gay Wellington is pleased to announce the successful applicants for our new part-time School’s Out positions.

Kassie Hartendorp has been appointed to the position of Facilitation Coordinator. In this role Kassie will train and work alongside volunteers, facilitating support and social groups for queer youth in the Wellington region. Kassie has been volunteering for School’s Out as a facilitator over the past year. She has strong organisational skills and experience working with youth in one-on-one and group situations.

George Mapplebeck has been appointed to the position of Program Leader. In this role George will work to grow the School’s Out programme, liaise with school counsellors, principals and other queer youth agencies, run workshops and manage the administration of School’s Out. George has been a Gay Wellington co-chair for the last year and has been actively involved with both Gay Wellington and School’s Out as a volunteer.

These two appointments are for a 12 month period, beginning in mid October 2011. It is the first time we have appointed two people into the roles.

Both Kassie and George will be guided by the three core principles of School’s Out:

For youth by youth – aiming to incorporate youth direction in all activities
Empowerment – building leadership skills and confidence among queer youth
Inclusion – involving everyone in projects and reducing discriminatory barriers to access

It would not be possible to employ Kassie and George without the support of our funders. We’d particularly like to thank the Wellington City Council and The Second AsiaPacific Outgames Legacy Fund for helping get these appointments off the ground. We welcome any new funders to contact us and help to provide ongoing financial support for School’s Out.

We hope the Wellington GLBTI community, along with the current School’s Out members and volunteers, are as excited about the new leadership team and the future of School’s Out as we are. Congratulations Kassie and George.

Stu
Co-chair, Gay Wellington

Contact us: helpline@gaywellington.org
Phone/text School’s Out: 027 763 9793

Monday, October 3, 2011

Lesbian drop in - discounted movie tickets in Oct!

Hi everyone

Our Next Drop-In group will meet Thursday Oct 6th, 6pm - 7:30 at Blondinis (The Embassy Cafe).

Near the end of October a group of us will be going to see the Italian Film Sea Purple (on Thursday Oct 27th). This film that looks particularly interesting – check it out at the italian film fest (and the link below).

We will purchase tickets at a reduced price to offer drop-in folks. Let Jo know if you are interseted in joining us - jo.morrison.nz@gmail.com

Jo

Here's the link to Sea Purple

Introduction from new WGWG Co-Chair

Hi everyone

I’ve been a member of WGWG for about 11 years and the treasurer for the last 7. I’m looking forward to taking on the new role as 2011/2012 co-chair.

This is guaranteed to be an eventful year for the group. The growth of School’s Out under the wing of two new employees and a strong team of volunteers is going to make a big difference to many teenagers’ lives and is a key focus area for WGWG. Taking helpline calls is another activity that many of us are passionate about, so the partnership with OutlineNZ and the move to take national calls from early 2012 needs to be managed well.

It’s a credit to all of our members that the number of activities under the WGWG umbrella has continued to grow. The diversity in our experience and interests makes WGWG as a whole much more than the sum of its parts. So let’s value each other’s contribution, build in some fun social activities and increase the support we give to the GLBTI community in 2011/2012.

Stu

PS we're always looking for new members, so if you're interested in joining a group of about 40 local GLBTI volunteers, send us an email or give us a call.

Tranzform

Tranzform meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month. Numbers fluctuate but there are between 8-14 people at the meetings. The group has been running along quite smoothly, gaining another regular member and having an original member start coming back to us, both rather delightful.

We have implemented a question / discussion box, where members can anonymously ask questions or give prompts for conversations they would like to have. It’s good for those who aren’t ready to ask questions directly yet, or just for the fun of steering the group into conversations which wouldn’t occur normally.

We have also been working on a formalized version of our safe space policy, which should be ready to put into action soon and effectively documents our current practice.

Call or text us on 022 105 0774 if you are interested in coming along. Dominique ~Tranzform~

School's Out Employee Update

Hi everyone.

Eleven people applied for the School’s Out Facilitation Co-Ordinator and Project Leader roles that we advertised last month. Every applicant was impressive. Carl, Brendan and I have just completed the interviews and will make offers to successful applicants next week. A big thanks to everyone who applied – if you didn’t get the job we hope you’ll continue (or start) being involved as a passionate volunteer.

Stu