Safe Space Pilot Evaluation

Safe Space Achieving Equality for LGBT people in Education Evaluation report into the Safe Space Programme pilot with Cardiff County Council and proposal for progressing work to achieve equality for LGBT people in Education.

February 2009

LGBT Excellence Excellence Centre Wales

Foreword I am delighted to have been asked to contribute the foreword to this report which highlights one of the taboos of our society, homophobic bullying, and gives an insight into how it can be tackled.

Addressing bullying of any kind in our schools is of course vitally important, but in the case of homophobic bullying there is much to be done in ensuring people are aware of all the issues and able to understand what some of our young people may be facing.

Homophobic abuse and physical violence may be encountered by pupils and teachers in schools, youth clubs and even on the street.

At its very worst homophobic bullying is undoubtedly a contributory factor to teenage suicides and it can lead ultimately to hate crime. Surveys have suggested that LGBT pupils may experience high rates of school absence which can impact on their achievement. They have also shown that LGBT pupils who have experienced homophobic bullying may be more likely to leave school at 16 even when they may be keen to continue their studies. This is not therefore an issue we can choose to ignore and we need to be brave and innovative in how we address this problem.

Because of this, I was very pleased that Cardiff Council was able to work in partnership with the LGBT Excellence Centre in setting up, developing and piloting the Safe Space programme that is outlined in this report and which was so well received by the schools in the city that took part.

I am also delighted that we were able to secure the involvement of international hip hop star Qboy in the workshops. It is clear that QBoy's experiences, and his ability to communicate, really struck a chord with the pupils. He helped them to understand the effect that homophobic bullying can have and helped make them think twice about some of the language and phrases they might be using without considering the impact they might have on those who are just starting to question their sexuality.

The Safe Space programme aims to raise awareness of the nature and challenge of homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools. It also helps schools to set up a system for tackling the problems they might encounter in dealing with sexual orientation and gender identity issues.

Some young people may find themselves very isolated in dealing with homophobic bullying and may feel uncomfortable talking to anyone about what they are experiencing, including their own families. Anything that can help to promote better understanding of this issue must therefore be welcomed.

The Safe Space programme is able to support schools in working towards defeating bullying, either by kick starting or supplementing the anti-homophobic bullying work that each school is now required to undertake. I am heartened that other local authorities in Wales are now considering using it as well.

I look forward to the day when homophobic bullying may become a thing of the past. I am sure this report will make a valuable contribution to that fight.

Cllr Rodney Berman Cardiff Council Leader

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Preface I arrived at school and I knew that something was up, there was an atmosphere that I felt many times before... as I walked into the classroom I saw everyone gathered around her, my nightmare, that girl who ever since she laid her eyes on me decided to make my life hell. Immediately I knew that the laughter that I could hear from down the corridor and that now I could see coming from all my classmates had something malicious in it, malicious against me. I knew because the moment I walked in, everyone looked at me and stopped laughing, but carried on smirking to each other. I felt isolated, alone... I saw her walking towards the bin minutes later and throwing away a bit of scrunched up paper. I could not resist, I knew it had something to do with me; I had to see what was on that bit of paper!

As soon as the bell rang, I made a point to stay behind, so I could go and get it. My heart was racing so fast, I was so scared. I slowly opened the pit of paper and started flattening it out onto my desk, and as tears started rolling down my cheeks, I saw a drawing of a boy in a silly skirt and arrows pointing at it with my name besides it. That was the reason for all the laughter. What hurt the most was that my name was not just my name; it was accompanied by the words “queer bastard� by it. I took the drawing to my teacher with tears still streaming down my face and I was told to grow up and that they did not mean any harm. Almost 20 years have gone past and that memory is still vivid in my head.

This experience is not only mine, is the experience of many others. The difference is that I was a strong person and throughout my life I was given a chance to deal with my emotions and understand that it was not my fault, it was only someone else just trying to make me feel bad for being gay. Unfortunately, many people are not given the same opportunity and end up suffering in silence, some become ill or troubled, and others even end up committing suicide.

People are just people, but yet people are just people because sometimes they do not understand the consequences of their words or actions. Unless people experience something on their own skin, it is difficult for them to relate to others.

Now think of a child, any child. Maybe your son or daughter, or your grandchild, or your friend’s child, that little neighbour next door that greats you with a smile every time you walk past... Now think of my experience... Think that it could happen to anyone, including this child! Are you really going to continue letting it happen?

For years I have been dreaming of ways to help others and put a stop to bullying and discrimination. For years I wanted to explain to my bullies how they made me feel.

Now, with this programme, Wales has the opportunity to lead the rest of the world in the fight against bullying, against people that are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender and to show that together we can really put a stop to it.

My dream now is to hear school laughter again, but laughter full of happiness and joy, from children that have got nothing to fear because of who they are. Just laughter.

Federico Podeschi Managing Director LGBT Excellence Centre Wales

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Content Executive Summary

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Background to Bullying in the UK

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Background to the Safe Space Programme

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The Pilot

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Evaluation of the Pilot

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Findings from the School Climate Survey

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Further Comments brought up in the Survey by Students

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Feedback Received about the Workshop from Students

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Further Student’s Comments

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The Way Forward

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Package

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Funding

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Background to the LGBT Excellence Centre and its LGBT Cymru Helpline

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Safe Space Programme Executive Summary Bullying is more and more on the radar for many people whether it is because they have children, because they are involved in education and youth services, or simply because they remember what it is like to be ridiculed and insulted by other children.

Yet, despite guidance from the government and a lot of effort from all authorities and many agencies in the voluntary sector, bullying still exists. For some, such as people from diverse groups, this bullying can be worse than for the average child.

Things get a little tougher if you come from a Black or Asian background, but the likelihood is that most people around you would have heard that racism is not acceptable and most authorities would know exactly how to intervene or at least what to say.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said if someone was being bullied because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The legislation that makes it illegal for service providers to discriminate against gay people is still very new compared with the race relations and gender equality laws so it is likely there is still a long way to go before gay people can expect the same protection, respect and education as their fellow students.

This is especially true with the legacy of the now notorious Section 28 legislation that was often used to justify schools from touching any issue around sexual orientation and gender identity education.

Even with the best of intentions, do we really think that everyone involved in education has the right skills to deal with bullying? And furthermore, how many actually have the skills to deal with sexual orientation or gender identity issues? How would we react if our son or daughter told us that they were gay or if they said that they were a boy when who we are looking at to us is a girl or vice-versa? Are we really sure that we would know exactly what to say to offer support and care?

That’s why it is so important to offer education on these topics to everyone, not just children, so that we are all better equipped and more at ease with talking about and expressing our needs, fears, feelings, and wishes.

Education is the key to break down barriers and open up opportunities to access the information and support that everyone needs, especially in the early years when conflicting messages, hormones, and society can really confuse young people.

The LGBT Excellence Centre Wales has put together a programme to help achieving more awareness and equip young people with the information and skills needed to tackle homophobic and transphobic bullying.

The Safe Space programme aims primarily to tackle bullying and discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation and gender identity – although the focus on embracing diversity has a positive impact across the school population and therefore impacts on other types of bullying.

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The programme works: • raising awareness around bullying and name-calling • providing strategies for support and intervention when anti-LGBT bullying occurs • providing materials and ideas for making sure that effective change is sustained after the delivery of this course The work to develop this programme was triggered by a case in which a gay teacher in the Cardiff Local Authority received ongoing homophobic bullying by pupils over a sustained period of time. The Local Authority intervened and took a number of steps to devise a strategy for dealing with the issues, by engaging various agencies and professionals through different approaches. One key element of this strategy was to raise awareness within the school about the impact that the bullying was having on this particular teacher and the Authority supported the development of this programme as a pilot.

The programme consists of a main workshop delivered to students (e.g. a whole year at a time) in game show format that includes various delivery methods: videos, live theatre performances, readings, pair work, group discussions and presentations.

We have also engaged celebrities like QBoy (one of the few rappers in the world openly out as gay) and Nigel Owen (International Rugby referee who came out last year) to make sure that students not only have a chance to understand that sexual orientation is not a barrier, but also to have some positive role models for those who might feel alone and isolated.

The school climate survey was carried out during the programme pilot and found that of the 600 Welsh school students based in Cardiff an alarming high proportion felt that their school is not safe for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people.

It found that 85 per cent of the students felt that their school was not safe for LGBT people to be openly gay, 62 per cent felt that their school is not safe for heterosexual students to support their LGBT friends, and 58 per cent felt that their school is not safe for teachers and staff to be openly gay.

This workshop has a multi-agency steering group and is also integrated with further workshops provided by the LGBT Excellence Centre and other partner organisations like Safer Wales, which also include training for teachers, governors, school counsellors, parents, and all staff. The Safe Space Steering Group, (the first group of its kind looking specifically at homophobic and transphobic bullying) focuses on both the development of the programme into a strategy to roll out across Wales and a model for other countries as well as exploring opportunities for joint working and funding for the programme.

The programme is also supported by a website (www.gayvibes.co.uk) for sharing information and good practice as well as new initiatives and a competition for all the schools to produce materials (e.g. a poster to tackle homophobic/transphobic bullying).

The Safe Space programme supports schools to work towards defeating bullying in schools. It can either kick start or supplement the anti homophobic bullying work that each school is now required to under take. The LGBT Excellence Centre Wales will provide the support and assistance in keeping the fire burning after the initial session.

Our human rights are violated when we are bullied. A school is not a Healthy School where there is bullying. Bullying is a barrier to community cohesion.

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Pilot Evaluation Background to Bullying in the UK The Living in Wales Survey (2004) reported that, of the LGBT sample who were surveyed • • • •

27% had come into contact with the education system in the past 12 months 12% of this sample reported being dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the experience 4% stated to be also dissatisfied with school facilities 31% of LGBT respondents under the age of 20 reported having been bullied during that period

There are no official statistics for the number of pupils being bullied at any one time in the UK or in Wales. Neither are there any official statistics for the number of young people who kill themselves due to distress over bullying.

More than 4,000 children under 14 have attempted to take their own lives in the past year, according to NHS figures that show the scale of distress and mental suffering in the young.

According to the Census, suicide accounts for almost 23 per cent of all deaths of people aged 15–24 years, and is the second most common cause of death in young people after accidental death. A Study called “Suicide and deliberate self harm in young people” estimated that 7–14 per cent of adolescents will self-harm at some time in their life, and as many as 20–45 per cent of older adolescents say they have had suicidal thoughts.

The Health Education Authority surveyed 4000 British lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people and found that 34 per cent of men and 24 per cent of women had experienced violence because of their sexuality; 32 per cent had been harassed and 73 per cent had been called names because of their sexuality.

Many LGB people question their sexual orientation in adolescence, and many experience rejection from family and friends when they disclose their sexual orientation. A study called “Mental Health issues within lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) communities” found that many young LGB also experience attacks and bullying in school. Many LGB people say they get negative responses from mental health professionals when they disclose their sexual orientation. In the same study, one-third of gay men, a quarter of bisexual men and more than 40 per cent of lesbians said they had had negative or mixed responses from mental health professionals.

According to the National Institute for Mental Health in England, LGB people are considered to be at high risk of suicide. The causes are thought to be linked to their negative experiences relating to their sexuality. However, it is difficult to establish the true risk of suicide for this group, as sexual orientation is not recorded when death is registered. Some deaths are recorded at inquests, as an 'open verdict' meaning there isn't enough evidence for the coroner to decide exactly what happened.

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The University of New Hampshire Counseling Center estimates that Gay, Lesbian and Bi teens are two to three times more likely to commit suicide than heterosexuals.

They also estimate the transgender youth suicide rate at 50% or higher as do most trans studies and trans advocates. According to the Great Divide (How Females & Males Really Differ), 5% of female-to-male transsexuals and 21% of male to female transsexuals have made a suicide attempt.

Besides suicides, more than 24,000 teenagers are admitted to hospital each year in the UK after deliberately hurting themselves. Most have cut, burned, severely scratched, bitten, scalded or poisoned themselves, or pulled their hair out. Recent research suggests that one in ten teenagers self-harm, so in an average sized class, chances are there will be at least one or two self-harmers in a classroom at any time.

However, the risk factors of self harm are not so well known in teenage or younger populations. Judging from personal testimonies collected by the National Inquiry into SelfHarm, risk factors for self-harm in younger populations seem to involve a number of common themes, including: • Eating disorders • Physical, emotional or psycho-sexual abuse • Depression, paranoia or obsessive-compulsive disorder • Low self-esteem and self-worth • Bullying Only racist incidents have to be recorded by schools in the UK, there is not as yet any requirement for bullying of any kind to be recorded.

Bullying Online surveyed 8,574 children, parents, teachers, and adults in 2006 and their survey revealed that thousands of pupils in UK schools are suffering extreme misery at the hands of their classmates and teachers say that they want more training to deal with the problem.

Of 4,772 children who completed the survey • 69% complained they had been bullied, and • each bullied pupil had suffered an average of six different types of bullying • the majority of instances were homophobically or racially motivated Of the teachers who completed the same survey • only 40% of teachers were confident they had all the skills they needed to tackle bullying • 82% thought that trainee teachers should get more advice on tackling the problem • 78% thought there should be more in-school training Bullying frequently focuses on perceived or actual individual differences i.e. those who are perceived to be different from the majority school population. In this respect it undermines the school’s work in promoting equal opportunities and teaching social and moral principles.

Bullying may seize upon aspects of body shape or appearance or focus on parental, cultural or ethnically-based lifestyles. It may dwell upon race, religion or nationality. It may

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also reflect parental ignorance and bigotry or neighbourhood feuds. Sexual bullying may involve misogyny or homophobia and focus on alleged sexual attractiveness or lack of it.

In 2007, Stonewall published a report into the experience of young gay people in Britain’s schools. The study found that homophobic bullying is almost endemic in Britain's schools.

Almost two thirds (65%) of young lesbian, gay and bisexual pupils have experienced direct bullying and 75% of young gay people attending faith schools have experienced homophobic bullying.

Stonewall reported that even if gay pupils are not directly experiencing bullying, they are learning in an environment where homophobic language and comments are commonplace. 98% of young gay people hear the phrases “that’s so gay” or “you’re so gay” in school, and more than 4 in 5 hear such comments often or frequently.

97% of pupils hear other insulting homophobic remarks, such as “poof”, “dyke”, “rugmuncher”, “queer” and “bender”. Over seven in ten gay pupils hear those phrases used often or frequently.

Less than a quarter (23%) of young gay people have been told that homophobic bullying is wrong in their school. In schools that have said homophobic bullying is wrong, gay young people are 60% more likely not to have been bullied.

The report concluded that over half of lesbian and gay pupils don’t feel able be themselves at school. 35% of gay pupils do not feel safe or accepted at school.

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Background to the Safe Space Programme The Safe Space programme aims to raise awareness of the nature of – and challenge homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools. It also helps the school to set up a system for tackling the problems that a school might encounter in dealing with sexual orientation and gender identity issues.

The programme was created by the LGBT Excellence Centre Wales. It builds on the work and research that many organisations have started developing. This work and research has involved students, teachers, parents, administrators, and other members of the school community who were interested in making their school safer by increasing awareness of LGBT issues and embedding an anti-LGBT bias.

The Safe Space programme aims primarily to tackle bullying and discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation and gender identity – although the focus on embracing diversity has a positive impact across the school population and therefore impacts on other types of bullying. The programme works: • • •

raising awareness around bullying and name-calling providing strategies for support and intervention when anti-LGBT bias occurs providing materials and ideas for making sure that effective change is sustained after the delivery of this course

The Safe Space programme supports schools to work towards defeating bullying in schools. It can either kick start or supplement the anti homophobic bullying work that each school is now required to undertake. The LGBT Excellence Centre Wales will provide the support and assistance in keeping the fire burning after the initial session.

The Safe Space programme aims to support schools to meet their statutory requirements to initiatives such as the Healthy Schools and Every Child Matters initiatives. “Pupils at risk of homophobic bullying” is a discrete category within the categories of Pupils with Additional Needs and this programme helps schools to demonstrate their commitment to developing an inclusive school, meeting those additional needs and fostering a climate of respect and community cohesion.

The other kids started hitting me.

Finally I decided to tell my parents but they told me I was ill and threw me out of the house for being gay

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The Pilot The creation of the LGBT Excellence Centre’s Safe Space programme was sponsored by Cardiff Council. The presentation materials were developed in collaboration with the Council’s Schools and Lifelong Learning service and their involvement secured the inclusion of the performances by international hip hop artist Qboy.

The workshop was then piloted in three High Schools in Cardiff. These sessions were available without charge for these schools by way of further funding made available for Cardiff Council through money it had received via the ‘Cymorth’ grants scheme for antibullying work in schools.

The programme was delivered to 460 pupils in total. The three performances were delivered to the complete Year 9 cohort in each school (160 pupils in the first, 120 in the second, and 180 in the third). These pupils have the advantage of being amongst the first cluster of pupils who have received this pioneering workshop in Wales, leaving them and the whole school better equipped to understand and tackle homophobia and homophobic bullying.

The workshop pilot included • • • • • • • •

theatre performances video presentations group exercises and workshop a live performance from Qboy (one of the few openly gay rappers in the world who has spoken out about being bullied when he was at school) crucially, a survey of school climate for all pupils to complete a handout for teachers a handout for students an evaluation form for all pupils and teachers

The pilot gave an opportunity for the workshop to be adapted and fine-tuned to incorporate the feedback from each session and highlighted further areas for future development.

I think that students in all secondary schools would benefit from such a workshop

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Evaluation of the Pilot The Workshop The workshop was designed to cover the following: • To explore the ways in which homophobia, transphobia, and oppression of any kind, hurts us all.

• To have participants consider how homophobia, transphobia, and heterosexism affect their lives.

• To establish the qualities of an effective buddy/straight ally, and to set boundaries for buddy work.

• To provide participants with a language for discussing LGBT issues; to clarify various terms and concepts regarding gender and sexual orientation.

• To arm participants with strategies for intervening in anti-LGBT bias.

• To teach participants strategies for being a supportive friend when someone comes out to them.

• To generate ways in which students can be proactive forces for school change.

Federico from LGBT Excellence Centre during one of the workshop presentations

The workshop alternated different delivery methods in order to captivate and engage the students throughout its 3-4 hours. This included presentations, videos, live theatre performances, games, and discussions.

Lessons Learned

The majority of people in this school aren’t accepting enough of LGBT people & even if some people did come out, it wouldn’t be safe for them

During the sessions delivered in the first school, it became clear that the content of the material was at too complex a level for the targeted year group. We also identified that the seating layout (theatre style) was inappropriate for the style of the sessions.

The revised workshop included more interactive material and a further workshop on prejudice. This workshop proved to be extremely powerful as it helped identifying those students that have homophobic/transphobic prejudice and gave an opportunity to carry out on-the-spot intervention to try and address potential issues at the very root.

Further development of this workshop is currently being explored to realise the greatest potential out of it.

The Theatre Performances The students were able to witness real-life scenarios through the use of actors that performed monologues and plays of real bullying cases, not only exposing the issues that LGBT people face, but also showing techniques for bringing bullying to an end. The scenarios travel through personal experiences and emotions, suggesting strategies for

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intervention when pupils or teachers witness someone being bullied. It also offers strategies to empower victims to respond to a bullying situation without relying on others.

Following the revised seating arrangements, the pupils were seated in “rounds” and the theatre performances are now acted in the middle of those groups, as opposed to on a stage. The performances, then, are delivered in the middle of the audience, therefore making the performance palpable and real in front of all students.

I think that you doing this workshop has showed people that there is nothing wrong The Teacher’s Handout with being gay or lesbian. It has also shown people that you should support The Handout for the teachers contained them as much as you can.

• an introduction to the programme • instructions as to how to get involved during the workshop • some guidance in regards to raising sexual orientation and gender identity issues in the classroom • some material for extra activities to be carried out in the class after the workshop • a feedback form.

Lessons Learned The pilot in the first school highlighted a need for clearer directions to be given to all teachers involved prior to the workshop being rolled out. Therefore, the Cardiff’s Schools and Lifelong Department worked on a different set of guidance for each exercise during the workshop and the intention is that all teachers involved will need to have this document before the workshop.

This also brought to our attention that teachers need further advice and support not only with the delivery of the workshop, but also with dealing with sexual orientation and gender identity issues and bullying in general.

The Student’s Handout This handout was put together to provide students with • the relevant paperwork necessary for undertaking the programme • information about additional support that is available • School Climate Survey • Report Form • Evaluation form The Excellence Centre Wales will be developing this handout to integrate further information to guide pupils to service providers that might be able to offer them advice and support after the workshop.

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The Report Form This form was introduced during the workshop and handed out to students in their handout in order to empower them to report issues of bullying that they might experience or witness in their school. Although the form is simple and straight forward, it offers an opportunity for students to speak up about their needs and inform the school of potential issues to tackle.

The form might be used in conjunction with the school monitoring procedures for bullying instances, however further discussions with each school are necessary to make sure that this form or any other procedure is inclusive of homophobic/transphobic bullying and appropriately recorded.

The Feedback Form and The School Climate Survey The feedback forms were handed out to each student and teacher that participated in the pilot and the School Climate Survey was only undertaken with students. The dual purpose of these surveys is • To receive feedback about the workshop • To evaluate the current situation in regards to LGBT equality and bullying issues in the schools that participated.

Really good and I think the rapper helped a lot and came in and told us that he was gay and it would boost a gay person’s confidence if they came to watch this performance

Lessons Learned Ensuring completion of the surveys at the end of the session, prior to returning to the classroom has been shown to increase completion rates.

QBoy’ s performance Half-British, half-Spanish QBoy is one of the most documented openly gay rappers and DJ's in his field and has played and performed all over the world.

Last year alone he has accomplished a 12 date USA tour plus trips to Australia, Iceland, Sweden, Germany and of course many dates at his home in the UK. QBoy spoke out about his experience and this wokshop: "When being bullied as a teenager never did I imagine it would play such an important part of my dream career of being a performer. It feels good to turn my unhappy experience into something positive and hopefully help other people going through similar experiences. I applaud the schools who are actively trying to combat and deal with the homophobia that is so evident in today's classrooms and playgrounds. Homophobia doesn't just affect those who are gay or perceived to be gay, it affects all of us and it is a problem we all need to help resolve. In the end, everyone of us strives to live in a society which is happy and accepting of one another."

Qboy’s performance, which is delivered to the students at the end of the workshop, includes 4 songs that captivate the attention of the students as well as the adults present.

Between songs he addresses the students, explaining his experiences and giving hope to those who might actually be experiencing bullying in that school. Qboy clearly presents a

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role model who brings together fun and energy whilst bridging the opinion of those with prejudice with those that are enjoying the performance, singing and dancing along to the songs.

The performance was very well received and we collated amazing feedback from the students as shown in the feedback section of this report.

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Findings from the School Climate Survey After the workshop students were more at ease discussing issues around sexual orientation and gender identity. There still appear to be still some students that struggle with these issues and therefore more work will need to be done. However, it is encouraging to see that the majority of students seem to be comfortable and this suggests that the workshop has raised some awareness.

Clearly there is an understanding in the schools around racial bullying and the issues faced by people with different ethnical background. Students recognise stereotypes and are aware of racial prejudice as not acceptable.

We see a marked difference between what has been asserted for racial issues in contrast to sexual orientation. It seems obvious that there is still lack of awareness of homophobic bullying/discrimination being an issue to tackle, regardless of the material showed during the workshop.

It also appears that female students seem to be more understanding of the issue than male students.

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Derogatory language around LGBT issues is endemic in our schools with this being heard almost daily and sometimes even 10 times or more in the same day. Once again, it appears that female students are more sensitive to this issue than male students, although the difference is not as significant as above.

Although the majority of students reported that teachers do not use antigay language, there are still some instances when this happens. Even though the instances reported here appear minimal, this information shows that work needs to be done to raise awareness with teachers as one comment could be as damaging to an individual as several.

Although students are prepared to admit that they have used homophobic language, on some forms they have actually stated that they did not realise that it was bullying or that they were hurting people, which might have been the result of raising awareness through the workshop. However, there is still work to be done to tackle the issue of name calling and this once again appears to be more linked to male students than females.

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We can see that there are great difficulties for teachers to intervene when homophobic bullying takes place. As previous surveys have reported, teachers often do not have the skills to step in when bullying happens, and it is even harder when the bullying is based on sexual orientation or gender identity grounds.

These figures might also be indicative that issues can also take place out sight of a teacher and therefore it is important to make sure that all school personel is trained to tackle bullying.

This graph highlights the difficulty that students might experience in tackling homophobic bullying.

Once again it appears that female students are more proactive in challenging inappropriate behaviour.

A male pupil’s fear of being labelled as gay if they were to support a gay friend might explain these reactions.

From this graph there appear to be a lack of awareness, tools, and techniques about what individuals can do to put an end to bullying. The report form that was handed out to students was an attempt to raise this awareness and the workshop was actually dealing with these issues.

It is important for schools to make sure that the students are briefed about what to do regularly and for more discussions to be centred around these topics

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Over 40% of the students surveyed were aware of other students being LGBT or questioning their sexual orrietation or gender identity. There is not enough awareness that according to statistics we all know someone who is LGBT, although it might be that they decide not to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity. More work should be carried out to raise awareness around disclosure, but also to making processes and language more inclusive regardless of somebody making a disclosure or not.

Similar to the previous statistics, this graph shows that just above a third of the students were aware of a friend or a member of their family being LGBT. This means that some of the issues around bullying or discrimination might actually also have an impact on somebody who is not LGBT, whether indirectly or through association.

When questionned whether their school needs to improve, there was a 50-50 split. This recognises that some schools are already building an inclusive school for LGBT pupils. It also indicates that there is still work to be done to raise awareness of the gravity of the impact that bullying can have on LGBT. It is generally recognised that viewing homophobic incidents and bullying on a level with racism is necessary in schools to prepare pupils for the world post education. It also shows that female students are more sensitive to this issue.

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Further comments brought up in the survey by students (typed as stated on forms):

School 1 Q: Do you think things need to change at this school to help gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning students (and/or teachers and staff) feel safer? If yes, then what should happen?

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They should be more strikter because if someone says there gay they gets bullied and even there friends bully them and its rong. People should feel free and safe to say what they are Because if someone says their gay or whatever then people bully them so they should stop the bullying They should open out to the school that they will help them if they get bullied for being gay People stop making gay comments about them so they can feel confterble Because there are people that bully gay people We should protect them and teachers should pay more attention to what is happening Teachers should do more to help Well I think that they should be in our school because it’s up to them if they want to be gay they are just like us Make people feel safe I think its wrong that theyre teaching us this because theres no way, at this age we can be gay. If adults are that’s their problem, we don’t need to know about it. And theyre encouraging us that its “ok to be gay” and its not, if gay was right there would be no reproduction & everyone would die.

Stop calling names A person to go to if you are one of them I think they should add a bit more to the school for gay peaple to go to People get bullied for being gay etc so it should stop I think that their needs to be a place for them to talk If someones called gay they gets bullied and their friends turn against them Yes, because the teachers who need to care and do something about LGBT bullying Stop the bullying I think that other teachers should be more strict to bullys in this school School 2

Q: Do you think things need to change at this school to help gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning students (and/or teachers and staff) feel safer? If yes, then what should happen?

• • • •

Suspend someone who take the mik out of them There should be more councilling/groups for glbt People should be nice. Teachers should be nice and not call students “poof” etc.

People who are homophobic should be punished as racists. Students & teachers They should have councilers to help people

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I think they should get help by an adult People should just shut up and let them live their life! there’s too many chavs in this school which isn’t safe for sexually different people (Different from straight people) Well there should be a recent date were people who are gay & that can visit someone who they can discuss who they are in a private conversation to help them come out I think teachers should be more supportive with gay/les/bi. And they should feel free to say what sex of people they like I think teachers should be more supportive and make sure other students understand that being gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender is not funny and should not be made fun of I think everyone should stop bullying people that are gay, lesbian, bisexual etc Theyre not different so people should stop trying to make them feel different. So I think there should be people to assure homosexuals that its ok to be a homosexual and the homophobics who bully the homosexuals should be punished Because the school should be nicer to people who are open about there sexuality to change how people think about people we should have more safe space days. Also let people hear the sad stories of bullying so they realise the hurt they cause by bullying someone They should be able to have a club after school if they want to come out Because the school should be nicer to people who are open about their sexuality I think that this school needs better discipline of its pupils as if anybody says that they are different in any way, gay lesbian etc. the other people will take the mick to upset that person and abuse that person. The school should have more options than councilling for pupils to turn to help for People in this school should support onanther as many rumours go around the school and many children get very upset over these comments. I think gays, lesbians and bi’s should be welcome to express there feelings and not been bullied over there orientation Staff and teachers should talk about it more and take more notice when people are getting bullied for who they are or even where they come from. People should be able to express themselves without bullying or racial comment. That 3 hour lesson learned me not to make anti gay comments cause it could lead to someone taking there life for who they are. I think alot of things should happen but don’t think they will cause theres a lot of bullys in this school who just don’t care Because the school should be nicer towards people who are open about their sexuality There should be people to assure the homosexuals that it is ok to be a homosexual.

The consequences should be worse for the homophobics who bully the homosexuals We should have more safe space days You could suspend them until they come to their senses We should all treat each other equally even if we are gay you would not be different. I think that it is cruel to take the micky out of someone Well bring more gay/lesbian or bisexual students to the school to face everyone so that they know they don’t have to do it alone but then they will get bullied by the school

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School 3 Q: Do you think things need to change at this school to help gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning students (and/or teachers and staff) feel safer? If yes, then what should happen?

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • •

It should be safer People are mean. Everyone needs to be ok about and not bully anyone More support for people who are scared coming open There should be support group for gay’s People should stop bullying People should stop bullying other people Make the consequense worse not just a detention Gays shouldn’t be bothered Clubs to support it Clubs to help support gay people There should be a gay club with advice There should be support groups for gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual people The school should tackle anti gays more often and make sure gays are safe Make them be safe for a few weeks Because gay and others are just the same as straight and if they were how would they feel if they were gay Everyone needs to be ok so no bulling They could open a place where people can feel free to talk about who they are Everyone needs to be ok with it so nobody gets bullied Just for people to understand that gay people are normal, just they have different interests Because every one should be treated the same I think that they should feel the same as everyone else Everyone needs to be ok so no1 is bullied It would be better if no one took the mick and exepted them for who they are A guidance counsellor or just some one to help + listen I would support them If a anti gay comment is made then there should be better consequences not just the teacher saying “don’t do it again” More support for people who are scared to come out Schools should have stricter behaviour. More information should be told on how to help gay people. Theres nothing wrong with it and I feel that more shows and performance should be used as they will work Everyone needs to be ok about it then no one would get bullied Because of the majority of people in this school aren’t accepting enough to gay etc people & even if some people did come out, it wouldn’t be safe for them The children need to be more accepting and understanding of gay people People in this school is too racist and everyone in this school is really homophobia.

Every should be supportive. There should be more teachers supporting.

Stop bullying Everyone should be allowed to make their own opinion on what they want to People should stop bullying

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Feedback received about the workshop from Students

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Further Student’s Comments

School 1 Students • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

It was alright, but I knew most of what they said.

I enjoyed it and the songs and plays were funny.

It was ok and it was funny.

It was good and I want to learn more.

Would like to see something like that again.

It will help people that need the help. It was good.

It was a good presentation.

It was good and you could help people to not be afraid to be gay.

It was good because I learned about lesbians.

The programme was good because it helped us know more and understand the contents of gay people.

It was rubbish and they should be ashamed except for Qboy.

Amazing.

I reckon it was really good. I really enjoyed it and I would like to see it again.

Gay people should stand up.

Qboy was brave to talk about his gayness.

Great.

I liked the performance and the way the man opened up.

I disagree with this subject, and they shouldn’t teach it at this age.

They need more theatre performances and more films and a little less talking.

It was really good and probably gave people confidence to say what they are. I enjoyed it.

Was too much for me. Scary and I don’t care about this.

They need longer theatre performances and more videos.

School 2 Students

I enjoyed it but it got boring at the end.

You could make the sessions shorter because most of my friends found it boring sitting down for 3hrs.

• The programme was very good and the actors were good because it was like real life.

• Very good.

• I enjoyed everything.

• I think that you doing this workshop has showed people that there is nothing wrong with being gay or lesbian. It has also shown people that you should support them as much as you can.

• There was no point in the programme because some people are going to bully gay people anyway.

• I thought it was a great experience and helped people to understand a little more of what gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals have to go through.

• It was a good programme, but I knew all this already.

• It was really boring. You should offer more wide range of music such as rock, opera etc.

It was very good for people to understand. People should not treat people different.

• •

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• • • • • •

• • • • • • • •

• • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

•

I really liked the performances because they gave demonstrations of how to tackle a problem and examples of real emotions and feelings.

I think that the best thing about the performances is that Qboy was the best he was really good.

We all enjoyed the performances; it showed us to just be ourselves.

Good programme, I think it showed a lot and covered topics needed.

It was alright, the theatre performances should have been longer though.

I already know all of it and I know what gay people do, but no offence I have known for years. I don’t mind gay people, am not homophobic but I don’t like people going on about it. I don’t mind them. The theatre and gay pride was the best but I didn’t really enjoy yesterday at all.

Very informative about what happens to gay people when they confess to being gay.

I think it has helped us and other children to understand the difference between other people and us.

This was a very good course. I think it made a definite difference to the how people think in my school. Hopefully things will change completely in the near future.

The acting was good. The whole day got to the point.

I enjoyed the day and the theatre performance by Qboy.

The theatre performances and the MCs were the best part of the day. I was bored.

Okay. Need louder speakers.

It was really good, the singer was amazing and he was fit.

School 3 Students QBoy was amazing The rapper is fit. There are loads of LGBT people, so don’t be afraid It was really fun and better than attending lessons. Learnt a lot. Fun seeing QBoy, he is fit! Good of Federico to be open with his sexuality. Good that everyone had a chance to express their opinions.

Good performance It was very funny, there were great workshops. It was very educational, it taught me more than I thought it would The rapper was fit as Rock on!

I think the whole thing was fantastic but there could have been less talking and more physical activities It was a good workshop and it was very informative. It taught me more than I thought it would Very good, I had fun Really good and I think the rapper helped a lot and came in and told us that he was gay and it would boost a gay person’s confidence if they came to watch this performance Very good, learned a lot and how people cope with being gay Makes a difference Most things in the meeting that were explained and already knew. Although some questions were trick questions to make you think.

It was very good I think that this programme is great! It is open and it helps people come out! I really liked the rapper at the end, and I think the everything was great! You had my full attention and that is cool too!

It was wicked

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•

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

It was fun and a supportive session for gay people. I really enjoyed it. But we have to sit on the benches for too long, my legs are aching. The activities were really fun and exciting.

I wish I could do more to help The actors were great, the rapper was the best, he was nice and very sexy, he should have sang longer It was funny and educational A bit too much talking, needs more physical activity, but it was still good, especially the rapper.

You were good QBoy was awesome, really enjoyed his rapping I was entertained and learned plenty of new things. The videos were a good idea.

It was really good and helped Very good! One of the best I have seen so far!

It was a pleasure to listen to The videos on Youtube were funny, but they had a message about gays. The actors were awesome It was brilliant It was really good. Well done The actors were great! The performances were really well done Excellent!

Feedback received from some of the teachers that participated in the workshop

The message was good but needs a lot of adapting for Y9 pupils. The terminology was too in depth and too complicated. It would have been better to stick to two or three terms. The language was too complicated also. Too much time sitting and listening to explanations at one point. This needs to be shortened – maybe a quiz on stage. A good mixture of music, plays and presentations. However video of murders wasn’t really suitable for this age group – a bit too graphic. Presentation would have a more powerful message if cut down to two lessons.

• At university I took some modules in Queer Theory and I struggled to understand/remember some of the terminology that was being presented to pupils. I think that the language used in the session was much too complex and high register for pupils of this age. The session needs to be more accessible and simplified as some pupils felt alienated by the course material. However I am delighted that these issues are being raised with these pupils.

• Following the session I have already noticed a positive change in the attitudes of some pupils, so thank you!

• The language used in the handouts made it very difficult for many of our pupils to understand/engage. The group exercises were impractical because of the size of the groups and the acoustics in the hall. I would have preferred to have had more support material to guide the pupils in some of the discussions. More drama would have been good- these were the sessions the pupils enjoyed. Thought the film from YouTube was good but its impact was a bit lost on the pupils somehow. Larger screen?

I’d just like to make some comments on the school survey form which pupils completed.

Obviously I don’t know how these forms are to be analysed or what you are looking for but I feel that if you link question 4 to 7 together you may get a distorted •

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• • •

• •

view. Question 4 is asking about derogatory comments in school which may include classroom situations, break, and lunch time and in some cases journeys to and from school. Question 7 will only apply to classroom situations, sometimes corridor and occasionally lunch and break times. If you wish to find out whether teachers’ respond to all comments they hear, I feel as if the questions need to be more specific or other questions need to be asked. Question 4 refers to “dyke” as an example. This is unfortunate for our school as pupils in PE regularly run the dyke (a river run nearby).

Some students cannot differentiate between words which have two meanings and will assume that the word used in PE is derogatory because they don’t understand. Sorry to be picky but I thought it was important that you were aware of this.

I have concerns that pupils were given the impression that being gay is normal and loads of people are gay but are too afraid to say so.

It may be more effective if the groups were smaller. This would make it more personal.

I think more use should be made of the drama performances and actors. Could they be used to facilitate each group and thus aid discussion? Pupils may work better with these than groups led by internal staff. Staff involved need info/briefing of topics covered before the session.

I think focus could be broader to include all aspects of bullying, not just homophobic bullying.

I think that students in all secondary schools would benefit from such a workshop.

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The way forward As a result of the pilot carried out in Cardiff and the promotional work carried out by the LGBT Excellence Centre Wales, initial expressions of interest have been received from third parties in Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion, Powys, and Wrexham to roll out the programme in the schools in their areas, with 3 further session currently being planned in Carmarthenshire.

Many schools and LEAs are interested. A primary issue quoted by schools or LEAs that wish to participate in or roll out the programme remains funding. Although some schools have an INSET budget these are often restrictive and need to be deployed elsewhere with other priorities.

The Excellence Centre Wales is committed to trying to obtain funding so that the programme can be delivered free of charge to all the schools in Wales.

We recognise the limits on INSET training budgets, training for Governors and a lack of budgets for an initiative such as the Safe Space programme. The Excellence Centre Wales has therefore met with all parties that have been involved in to discuss developing the programme to offer an all-in-one package for schools to be able to train • students • bullies • teachers • governors • school counsellors • school advisors • non-teaching school personnel • anyone else who might benefit developing their knowledge and understanding of the issues covered by the programme.

The all-in package will be offered at the same price for any school or local authority that wishes to join the programme and is illustrated in the section that follows.

The Safe Space Workshop The workshop was revamped to make it more interactive and game-show like. This has allowed the students to be more engaged and have fun whilst learning. More videos and new games were incorporated to get the attention of the students and then debate some of the issues raised.

The Theatre Performances The theatre performances have been revised to include more material about bisexual and transgender issues, which were not covered during the pilot. The actors are more engaged throughout the workshop and can help and assist the group discussions. The new performances are also more interactive in order to engage the students and will also be tested further and modified as the programme is rolled out.

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The Diary Room The workshop will also incorporate an opportunity for the students to sit the bullying chair and talk about their experiences or give their feedback on camera and also leave messages of support. This material will be archived as social research and will create an archive of experiences about what students experience in their schools. The different footage could also be used on the website that is proposed in the section that follows below for each school to upload. There will be an opportunity to anonymise the material if required.

The Teachers Handout A resource packed with teaching plans and guidance on raising and dealing with sexual orientation and gender identity issues in the classroom and mainstream education around these issues into all areas of teaching, not only PSE classes. The handout also contains further guidance for teachers that identify as LGBT to feel empowered to come out as a role model and raise awareness as well as offer support to LGBT students.

The Students Handout A resource for students with information on coming out issues, support networks, guidance on jargon, services available to them, information about reporting bullying and hate crime.

This will be created by the students of one of the schools that participated in the pilot as a project and will therefore be student-friendly and jargon-free. This handout will be made available to all students that will participate in the pilot.

Workshop for Teachers and School Staff This workshop can be provided either before or after the workshop for students depending on the needs of each school. This workshop is delivered in partnership with Safer Wales and aims to work with teachers and other school staff to increase understanding of the issues faced by young Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual (LGBT) people in today’s society and particularly in our schools. Specifically the workshop covers: • Language – We explore the misuse of language and the impact that this has on individuals. What should you do about inappropriate language?

• Fear – Why does society fear LGBT people and what are the fears that LGBT people have in society? Why is coming “OUT” such a big deal?

• People – Why are stereotypes used in the media and what impact does this have?

Where can you find more positive role models for your pupils?

• Bullying – What is different about homophobic and transphobic bullying? Why should you intervene? This session gives participants the opportunity to discuss ways in which we can stamp out bullying in our schools and everyday life.

The session is interactive and uses various training methods including discussion of the topics listed. This session is specifically designed for people working in an education environment.

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Workshop for School Counsellors A workshop to raise awareness of issues concerning sexual orientation and gender identity for school-based or LEA counsellors. Being a counsellor does not necessarily translate to knowing what the issues for LGBT people are. This training raises awareness on sexual orientation and gender identity issues as well as equips counsellor with strategies for dealing with LGBT students that have experienced bullying, want to come out, or have issues around their sexual orientation or gender identity that they would like to talk about.

Workshop for School Governors This workshop focuses on raising awareness on sexual orientation and gender identity issues and look at ensuring that the school governors are aware of what their responsibilities and duties are in regards to legislation around sexual orientation and gender identity, both in the provision of education and employment.

Workshops for Parents This workshop is for parents of LGBT students who would like support in dealing with their children’s sexual orientation or gender identity as well as for the parents of students that have been bullying LGBT students. In the latter case, it should be the school and the board of governors to recommend that the parents of a bully should attend a training session in order to understand how they can contribute to the correction of their children’s behaviour as a parent. The workshop has also a remit to form an ongoing support group with the help of outside organisation in order to both push policies forward and also achieve change for the school and students.

The Bullying Report Form This report form has already been presented to the students who participated in the pilot and is meant to provide an additional simple mechanism for students to report bullying.

The form simply asks what the problem is, what has been done about it, and whether something still needs to be done. The form can be handed in anonymously in order to guarantee that if someone wants to make a confidential report they are allowed to (ie if someone does not want to disclose their sexual orientation.

The School Climate Survey The School Climate Survey has offered the pilot an opportunity to collect data on homophobic and transphobic bullying. The data reported in this report is the first set of specific data on this topic relating to Wales and it is important to keep assessing the situation in Welsh schools as well as the achievement of the programme. The survey will continue to be rolled out to every school after the workshop and analysed free of charge on behalf of each school. The information will be collated to form a database of bullying information for Wales to help the development of strategies and policies and to target specific problems identifies. The data can also be maintained anonymously as there is no requirement for students to put their name on the form. Information will be shared with

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each school as well as with each LEA involved, but there will also be a commitment not to disclose any sensitive information about individual schools or LEAs to third parties. This survey will also be used to collate the first-ever set of information about students who are happy to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Website A website is currently under development and will be launched in September 2008 to create activities and share good practice between schools and other organisation as well as the community. The website will also give an opportunity to students to engage in policy-making and to bring positive change to the school environment through forums, chat rooms, discussions, opinion-polls, blogs, and storytelling. Each school will have a page on the website where they can upload activities, documents, policies, competitions, videos, and photos about their work to tackle homophobic and transphobic bullying in order to promote debate and move the agenda forward.

The Competition At the end of each workshop, the LGBT Excellence Centre Wales will launch a competition for all the schools, asking all students who participate in the workshop to produce individual posters to help tackling homophobic or transphobic bullying. Every class will elect a winner for their class through voting and the school will display the winning posters throughout the school to raise awareness and help put an end to bullying.

The Excellence Centre Wales will then be called back to each school to elect an overall winner for the school who will have its winning poster displayed on the Excellence Centre’s website for a Wales-wide competition of all the schools in the programme. The winners across Wales will have an opportunity for their posters to be sent out to all schools in Wales, to all Local Authorities, and all Community Centres. The competition has a purpose to raise awareness around bullying and discrimination issues through messages that are actually initiated by the students to tackle local issues. The idea to send the winning posters outside of schools to local authorities and community centres is to maximise the potential of an already strong message from the student and to help bridging the community. There are also further discussions taking place around an animation that the winning school will have a chance to produce and showcase.

The Excellence Centre is currently seeking funding for the production and distribution of the posters as well as for prizes for the winners. An initial idea for prizes is to obtain funding for planting trees in the schools in memory of the victims of hate crime and bullying as a visible reminder of the work that has been achieved.

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Package The programme is modular and allows Local Education Authorities or schools to pick and mix what is most relevant and appropriate for the needs of each school.

The core package includes: • Single delivery to one school of the workshop for students including the theatre performances delivered to a whole year (150 students max) • All materials for the workshop • Performance from QBoy • Free workshop for teachers • Free survey and feedback • Free video material to be used by the school on their website page • Unlimited access for the school and all their students to the website • Support for the setting up of the workshop The Excellence Centre is currently looking to negotiate different rates in order to be able to offer a charging policy dependant on volume of orders or for service level agreements, which will be discussed further with individual LEA’s or schools as appropriate.

All other packages listed above carrying individual charges may be attached to the programme as required.

Funding Whilst the intention is roll out this programme as widely as possible, funding remains an issue for many schools and LEAs. Therefore, the LGBT Excellence Centre Wales is currently exploring funding options to relieve LEAs and schools of the burden to find funding for this programme. This report will be presented to the Welsh Assembly Government, various authorities and funders to get their support or for potential available funding.

Other funding avenues to be explored will be through • • • •

Convergence Funding (WEFO) Communities First through the Parents and Teachers Associations Children and Young People’s Partnerships Community Safety Partnerships

The intention will be to also create a partnership approach to both obtain funding and share good practice about the programme and other future work to tackle bullying.

Cardiff Council is simultaneously seeking independent funding via Cymorth and the Community Safety Partnership to obtain funding to roll out the programme to the remaining schools in their authority

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Background to the LGBT Excellence Centre and its LGBT Cymru Helpline The LGBT Excellence Centre was set up as a social enterprise and a charity in 2007 to ensure that LGBT people are given equal opportunities and access to justice in all areas of life and to promote equality, diversity and human rights for the public benefit.

In particular, the charity’s objects are: •

the promotion of equality and diversity particularly in relation to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender persons (in particular but not exclusively those resident in Wales) for the benefit of the public by: (a) the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of gender or sexual orientation; (b) advancing education and raising awareness in equality and diversity; (c) promoting activities to foster understanding between people from diverse backgrounds; (d) conducting or commissioning research on equality and diversity issues and publishing the results to the public (e) cultivating a sentiment in favour of equality and diversity

•

to promote human rights (as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent United Nations conventions and declarations) particularly of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender persons throughout the world by all or any of the following means: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j)

monitoring abuses of human rights; research into human rights issues; educating the public about human rights; providing technical advice to government and others on human rights matters; contributing to the sound administration of human rights law; commenting on proposed human rights legislation; raising awareness of human rights issues; promoting public support for human rights promoting respect for human rights among individuals and corporations; international advocacy of human rights

The LGBT Excellence Centre Wales is an exciting social enterprise based in Wales with a commitment to Wales. It is a centre that gathers and shares excellence, information and good practice for LGBT people as well as organisations that want to achieve better equality and human rights.

The LGBT Excellence Centre Wales is a catalyst to unleash the potential of many initiatives and projects through networking and partnership working in order to empower Welsh communities to flourish and achieve better equality for everyone.

Through its various projects that are delivered throughout Wales, it delivers free help and support to communities, whilst supporting itself through trading and operating throughout the UK and abroad.

The Excellence Centre supports Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender individuals and

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groups through its helpline, but it also supports organisations that want support and advice around sexual orientation, gender identity, equality, diversity, and human rights through the provision of services for the public private and voluntary sectors including: a range of training courses on equality, diversity and human rights leadership and management development programs consultancy services for organisations that wish to address their diversity policies and procedures support for individuals or groups that want to develop social enterprises and ventures to benefit different communities In the interests of sustainability, the Excellence Centre also operates a network of professional consultants and freelance trainers who affiliate themselves to deliver these services and achieve these outcomes. The Excellence Centre serves as a “hub” to connect them to clients/customers.

There is a clear charging policy, however the Excellence Centre negotiates with clients who have limited capacity. Additionally, we may decide to offer the service for free as needed or on a Time Banking or pro-bono basis.

The LGBT Cymru Helpline The LGBT Cymru Helpline is a free and professional caring service for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender people in Wales aiming to counteract feelings of individual social isolation and strengthen connections between LGBT communities in all our areas.

0800 023 2201 lgbtcymruhelpline@lgbtcymruhelpline.org.uk We provide general information, advice and support in many areas of life and around various issues that people might experience, keep scrolling down. We will soon launch a brand new website with a public access and a search facility that enables anyone to look for support or services catering for LGBT issues as well as listings of forthcoming LGBT events.

Our staff and trained volunteers will be able to help any caller on any subject to do with sexual orientation or gender identity.

Our Helpline is currently open between 9AM and 5PM from Monday to Friday, and from 7PM till 9PM on Mondays and Wednesdays, although we are always looking for more volunteers to help us providing our service outside of these times – if you want to join us, drop us an e-mail!

You don't have to be lesbian, gay or bisexual to call us, perhaps you have questions or concerns about your child, or your parent, or you may even want to talk about your friend, partner or spouse.

General Information and Advice We can give you information about places to go, bars, clubs, social and sports groups or support groups.

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Coming Out Call us if you want to talk about your feelings; are frightened, confused or isolated. Falling in or out of love. Coming to terms with your sexuality, or feelings for a classmate or workmate .

Discrimination If you think that you might have been discriminated in employment, education or other areas of life because of your sexual orientation or gender identity, or if you would like to find out what your rights are, we can help you answer your queries and make sure that you can access not only information but also justice. If you need help because you have been discriminated, we can represent your case and sometimes also arrange for free legal representation. What matters is that you let us know what you are experiencing and then check what the law says so that we can help both you as well as organisations to ensure that LGBT people get treated equally and fairly.

Bullying If you have been bullied or other students have been calling you names and you want to have a chat to somebody about the way that you feel, we can be there to listen. If you want something done about it, we can also help you to make sure that your school deals with the students that are treating you bad. We can also put you in touch with youth and support groups in your area if you would rather speak to somebody face-to-face.

Hate Crime If you have experienced or know of any anti-LGBT hate crime or incident but do not feel able to report this directly to the police, we can help to report the information you tell us to the Police on your behalf. We ensure that all your information and details are kept confidential and, if you wish, you can even remain anonymous. If you do not want to make a formal report, we can also make sure to offer a listening ear and see if we can help you in other ways.

Counselling Our counselling service offers help with: Relationships, Bereavement, Sexuality, HIV/Aids, Gender Identity, Homophobic and Transphobic Hate Crime, Coming Out Issues, Stress & Anxiety, Emotional Problems, etc.

We offer free telephone and e-mail counselling with staff and volunteers who have been trained in basic counselling skills, but we can also arrange for more in-depth counselling/psychotherapy sessions. Face-to-face sessions are currently provided in a safe environment in the Swansea area, but we are also building our service to cover for the rest of Wales. All counsellors in accordance with BACP ethical code of conduct and have undergone sexual orientation and gender identity awareness training.

LGBT-friendly Listings Building on the success of our previous listing of trades people and services, we will soon launch a new website packed with information about products and services that are aimed to or friendly for LGBT people. If you would like your organisation/product/services to feature here, make sure to drop us an e-mail!

The LGBT Cymru Helpline is a subsidiary of the LGBT Excellence Centre Wales Ltd

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LGBT Excellence Excellence Centre Wales Contact Us LGBT Excellence Centre (Wales) Limited 60 Walter Road Swansea SA1 5PZ E-mail: enquiries@ecwales.org.uk Tel: 01792 468 333 LGBT Cymru Helpline: 0800 023 22 01