Category: LGBTQ+

Fit 4 Purpose – Gone but not Forgotten!

George HarveyCampaigns

March 2017 saw the end of our Fit 4 Purpose project after a four year period. Fit 4 Purpose was a capacity building project funded by London Councils which saw Age UK London work in partnership with Opening Doors London. The project reached over 500 organisations across London, working with them to make sure they could effectively serve older Londoners. All 32 boroughs, including the City of London, had several of their local older people’s organisations taking part in Fit 4 Purpose.

Over 100 workshops took place over the course of the four year period. These sessions were an opportunity to “skill-up” organisations that worked with Older Londoners as well as a chance to network across the capital, sharing intelligence and knowledge to build upon good practice.

Considering the success of the project, we thought it’d be good to give it a proper send off in this week’s blog!

pride of place

Pride of Place with Opening Doors London

Peter Scott-PreslandLGBTQ+

“Pride is the spine of the LGBT+ year, the one point at which all sections of the community in all their varied sexualities and identities can come together to celebrate who they are, to protest or rally against what threatens us, and to remember our losses.

It has been the spine of my life, the one fixed point of the calendar, since 1972. This is true for many older people, who have marked the years by the marches or parades they have been on, the people they have met and celebrated with – the acts and speeches indelibly etched in their minds.”

Opening Doors London’s Peter Scott-Presland teaches us all about experiencing LGBT+ Pride as an older person.

LGBTQ dementia care

Dementia Care in the LGBT* Community

Sally KnockerDementia

“People who are not LGBT* struggle to understand why it might be very important at times in our lives when we are experiencing particular stresses and changes to be with people with whom there is no need to hide or explain who we are.”

This week’s blog – which appears as part of Dementia Awareness Week – sees Opening Doors London’s Sally Knocker explain how dementia care differs for members of the LGBT* community.

Coming Out in Later Life

George HarveyLGBTQ+

This past week saw the celebration of National Coming Out Day (NCOD), an annual day for the recognition of the LGBTQ+ community and the coming out process. Normally my involvement in NCOD is limited to scrolling through posts from friends on social media which detail their past experiences of coming out. However, this year I was struck by an article from 2015, which stated that “coming out in later life is a growing trend”. As a result I began to think as to why that might be the case, and to look into the challenges older LGBTQ+ people face when […]