■ Sir Ian McKellen is Patron of Gay-Glos:  “I wish I could be with you.”

GLOUCESTER, June 30, 2006  –  For sixteen years, Gloucestershire Friend has been running a telephone helpline for gay men and women.  Today, the group “came out of the closet” in Gloucester’s Guildhall when they ‘re-branded’ themselves Gay-Glos.

“We were not really ‘out’ as a helpline but in out own closet,” explained Ian Vesty, the chair of Gay-Glos.

“The climate was very different for LGBT people 16 years ago  And our name said something about how confident – or rather lacking in confidence – we were as an organisation.

“We were a secret helpline where you had to be pretty persistent to find out about us and how to contact us – some people even thought we were part of the Quaker movement,” he added.

The new name was chosen to reflect that the organisation is no longer simply a telephone helpline.

In addition to one-to-one support, Gay-Glos has been actively involved in engaging with strategic partners in the voluntary and statutory sectors for several years.

The group is a major player in district, county and regional partnerships and has been running successful training for individual organisations and for schools under the Healthy Schools initiative.

Recent funding from the Big Lottery has supported the setting up of Rural Friendship Support Groups, which are thriving.

Patron of the group is Sir Ian McKellen, who takes an active interest in the organisation.  He was unable to be present but sent the group his warmest wishes for the future in a letter.

“I just wanted to send my congratulations and birthday greetings to all of you who are involved with Gay-Glos,” Sir Ian wrote.

“Over the last 16 years of supporting people in Gloucestershire who need your specialised help, much has changed in the United Kingdom.  Old cruel laws have dropped like over-ripe fruit and new better ones have replaced them.

“But old attitudes die harder and prejudice has to be dealt with in the playground, at work, at church, in the street and media, everywhere where people are trapped in suspicion and ignorance of gay people.  So keep up the good and necessary work.

“I wish I could be with you.”

■  The Gay-Glos telephone helpline is available from 7.30 to 10 pm each weekday evening (Monday to Friday) on (01452) 306800.

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