INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the Gay Men's Health Annual Report.
Three events summarise the past year for me as Chair of Gay Men's
Health's Board of Directors. The first was meet-ing up with someone
1 hadn't seen for a number of months. During that time, difficulties
had developed for him and he began to question what life was about
and if it was worth living. His situation has improved markedly
because of the action he took following contact with Gay Men's
Health's counselling service and having the chance to talk through
his problems with one of our counsellors.
The second was seeing the booklet for young men who may be thinking
about their sexuality and whether or not to "come out".
Produced in association with Healthy Gay Scotland, this booklet
provides an excellent and usable re-source for young people. Despite
the House of Lords vote and prejudiced comments, young people deserve
the in-formation provided by this booklet to let them lead a healthy
lifestyle, including having sex if they choose to.
Then there was the volunteer social night in July in Nexus Cafe, which for
me seemed to sum up the whole purpose of Gay Men's Health- to mobilise a community
around HIV prevention for gay and bisexual men. To see such a crowd and to
experience the support and fun was so moving.
This has been a good year for the agency. The Board has worked
with staff and volunteers to ensure that what we do is relevant
for the people we serve and of the highest quality. New initiatives
are in place and others are being planned. Anyone visiting the
Union Street premises will find a friendly and vibrant centre -
and will probably be roped into doing something! Work with other
agencies has helped ensure better involvement in HIV issues for
gay men from a wide spectrum of interests.
A lot of hard work and difficult decisions have supported the
development of the work. I would like to thank fellow members of
the Board, staff and volunteers for their efforts. Especially I
would mention Eric Kay who has done much more than just fill in
as manager over most of this year and who has come back again to
help move us towards the next phase of life at Gay Men's Health.
Gary Wilson takes up a new post at Lothian Health Promotion and
we thank him for his work in developing Gay Men's Health from the
early days and wish him well in his new area of work.
Roy Kilpatrick
Chair of GMH
FROM THE MANAGER
When I took up post in October 1997 covering Gary Wilson's sabbatical,
GMH was well established as the main HIV prevention agency in the
East of Scotland for gay men, with a key strategic role working
in partnership with a lot of other agencies. It might have been
a time of consolidation, yet in the past year Gay Men's Health
has gone through a period of review and as a result, rapid development
and change. We said farewell to two of the staff who set up parts
of the agency, Georgie Robertson and Andy Bannister, and welcomed
three new staff members to the team. It has been a year in which
the establishment of a project based in West Lothian has been accompanied
by the consolida-tion and expansion of the work on the Commercial
Gay Scene and in the Care and Support service.
The bold decision taken by the Board in December to focus resources
and energy on working directly with gay men, because of concern
at the figures for new diagnoses among gay men, has resulted in
the greatest surge forward in the work we do. The new staff team
are now established and settled in place and have responded well
to the chal-lenge. The numbers and variety of volunteers joining
GMH and the intensity of their involvement has developed con-siderably
and the dynamism they have brought to the work is exciting and
innovative. As a result the agency is able to do more than ever
before and this has increased our ability to work jointly and cooperatively
with a host of other agen-cies.
Gary's decision to move to a job with Lothian Health Promotion
will mean that by the end of 1998 a new manager will be appointed
to take the agency forward to the next stage of development. It
has been a pleasure and a privilege to work with Gay Men's Health
and as a result of all your efforts we are in the best ever position
to effectively stem the spread of HIV infection among gay men and
to change attitudes within and outside our community.
This is an organisation to be proud of.
Eric Kay
Manager
CARE AND SUPPORT
Gay Men's Health believes that mental health and social environment
have a direct link to the HIV prevention work that we do. In simple
terms; if you feel worthless then you are not going to feel motivated
to look after your sexual, physical or emotional health.
AIMS & OBJECTIVES
Imagine that you have been brought up being told that you are dirty, strange,
unnatural and perverse. Some people don't want their children near you and
others discriminate against you. There's no-one to tell you you're OK when
you're younger and you sometimes face harassment and prejudice as an adult.
Isn't it fairly likely that you will suffer low self esteem, high
levels of stress, isolation from family and friends, misuse of
alcohol/drugs and numerous other mental health problems at some
point? The answer is yes, according to the in-creasing amount of
research on gay men's emotional well-being.
The Care & Support services aim to address the social and
emotional issues that affect the health of gay and bisexual men
through:
Providing an information service
Providing support on any issue
Providing counselling on any issue
Running projects connected to the emotional health of gay men
COUNSELLING & SUPPORT
We have continued to provide a free, confidential counselling and support service
to gay and bisexual men on any issue of concern. Over the past year we have
provided information, counselling and support on 909 occasions.
We have recently reviewed our Care & Support services and have made recommendations
on how to work to best practice, in line with the Code of Ethics and Practice
published by the British Association of Counsellors. All of our counsellors
are trained and supervised.
We have noticed that the formal counselling service has a good
uptake amongst men in their mid-thirties and over. Younger men
seem to prefer accessing our more informal support services, perhaps
dropping in for a chat about par-ticular problems. We remain flexible
in our approach to ensure that we reach as wide a group of people
as possible.
ISSUE No
of contacts % of
total issues
Anxiety/Stress 309 17
Self Esteem 262 13
Relationships 259 13
HIV/Sexual Health 183 9
Social Isolation 182 9
Sexuality/Coming Out 142 7
Mental Health 123 6
Loss/Grief 92 5
Rape/Abuse 77 4
Alcohol/Drug 65 3
Other 265 14 PROJECTS
Homophobic Bullying in Schools
Stonewall Youth project and Gay Men's Health were invited by the City of Edinburgh
Council to run a workshop for teachers looking at ways to support gay, lesbian
and bisexual students in schools. The workshop was very successful and the
surrounding publicity was generally very positive. As a result we were invited
by West Lothian Council to at-tend a seminar on bullying in schools.
Survivors Seminar
Thanks to additional funding from Lothian Health we were able to run a seminar
for people working with men who have been raped or abused. We are lucky to
have people working within Gay Men's Health who specialise in this field.
Self Esteem workshops
We have developed a workshop around self esteem and confidence-building based
on cognitive-behavioural model of counselling. This has been very successful
and while people can find it very challenging, it has proved fun and useful
for people trying to break cycles of sabotaging themselves.
Personal Safety Workshop
Because of a high number of vicious homophobic attacks on gay men, we decided
to organise a personal safety and self defence workshop with professional
trainers which looked at the psychology of violence, how to avoid it, and
how to cope should you be attacked.
Craig Hutchison
Care and Support Worker
COMMERCIAL GAY SCENE
Over the last year the Commercial Gay Scene project has continued
to work with a wide range of men on the Edin-burgh gay scene. Our
ethos has been to respond to a scene which is constantly undergoing
change in terms of pat-terns within the groups of men who socialise
there while acknowledging any physical changes in the dynamics
at work in the scene.
While responding to the needs of gay men we have endeavoured to
become more pro-active with the launch of sev-eral new on-scene
initiatives, refining and improving existing parts of the project.
One of the main aims of the project is to engage men in a range
of activities which are fun, informative and appropri-ate vehicles
for targeted HIV prevention work. To do this we try to give gay
men what they want and provide them with a reason to get involved.
While doing so, it is important that we do not treat the many issues
that affect gay men in isolation and address them in the context
of effective prevention work.
The gay scene provides us with an excellent access point to conduct
prevention work with gay men. Through
on-going feedback and evaluation we have gained a greater understanding of
what can be achieved effectively and realistically through an on-scene presence,
enabling us to identify three main requirements of the scene project from local
gay men:
Basic HIV prevention activities through provision of a consistent
supply of condoms and lubricant to gay men via local scene venues.
Action : As a result of a large scale review of the Bar Jar Scheme, we have
received an increased budget to provide condoms and lubricant to gay men, allowing
us to maintain a consistent supply now meeting weekly demand. Over the last
year we have supplied 148,650 condoms and 106,400 lubricants to local men through
the Scheme. The Scheme has also been extended and seen the introduction of
a more popular, gay lubricant. A volunteer continues to maintain the scheme
in 8 gay venues on a weekly basis.
Access to a wide range of information throughout the scene continues
to be a priority among local gay men.
Action : Information on HIV sexual and emotional health, support services and
other health issues is distributed to all gay venues on a monthly basis by
a volunteer. Targeted information is also given out at regular scene events
and at 'gay clubs, proving to be the most effective method of distribution.
It is important that specific information is given out which complements the
event and is appropriate to the target group.
Greater visibility on-scene in terms of a regular 'physical presence'.
Increased involvement with gay men through regular scene events
is perhaps the most common request of local gay men.
Action : Gay men want to see who Gay Men's Health are as-well as what they
do. The last year has seen the Com-mercial Gay Scene project extend and develop
it's range of on-scene activities and events to form the focal point of the
project. If we are to work directly with local gay men then it is important
that we go to them. We now have a num-ber of regular on-scene activities such
as Safer Sex Squaddies and Label Queen (SHAG-TAG) which allow us to make contact
with the men we are working with in an informal setting, provide information,
observe a--. changes in the scene and respond accordingly.
Equally important is the need to maintain a profile on the gay scene and regular
events provide an excellent access point for engaging men in the work of the
organisation. Volunteers have played a crucial role in the visible expansion
and increased dynamism of the scene project and we currently have 28 active
scene volunteers.
COMMERCIAL GAY SCENE ACTIVITIES AUGUST
97 - JULY 98
EVENT NOs
REACHED
Under the Pink Fringe 350
August 97 at Gay Men's Health
Summer of Love 400
August 97 at Princes St. Gardens
Fancy That Halloween Ball 100
October 97 at The Venue
Bar Jar Review 600
Oct-Nov 97 at all gay venues
House Party 2 Launch 150
November 97 at CC Blooms
Wild World AIDS Day 150
November 97 at Club Mercado
Safer Sex Squaddies Launch 600
December 97 at all gay venues
Safer Sex Squaddies Mission 2 500
February 98 at all gay venues
Safer Sex Squaddies Mission 3 550
April 98 at all gay venues
SHAG-TAG 700
May 98 at CC Blooms
SHAG-TAG 2 and Safer Sex Squaddies 600
May 98 at CC Blooms
GUM/GMH Drugs/Alcohol & Safer
Sex Survey 600
May - June 98 at all gay venues
Pride Scotland - GMH TA's 700
June 98 in Glasgow
SHAG-TAG 3 500
June 98 at CC Blooms
Safer Sex Squaddies - Men in Uniform 250
June 98 at Newtown Bar
GP Survey 50
July 98 at all gay venues
Safer Sex Squaddies Mission 4 600
July 98 at all gay venues
SHAG-TAG Featuring CHIP 600
July 98 at CC Blooms
James Falconer
Commercial Gay Scene Worker
PEER EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Say to people that the area you work in is 'peer education and
community development' and that familiar glaze comes over the eyes.
But it's quite simple really. Peer education simply means that
we listen to our friends. If they all watch a particular programme,
we tune in to check it out, if they're going to a certain bar,
we try it too, and if they are finding ways to help sustain safer
sex, we want to be in on the conversation. The hard part is to
get them interested in the first place, which is where the community
development bit comes in. If gay men can be encouraged to get together
and be involved in a whole range of projects for the community,
then they can involve more and more of their friends, all bringing
different skills and perspectives. Research has shown that if only
15 to 20% of a population takes up and idea then that will diffuse
throughout the community. That is what we are trying to do here
at Gay Men's Health.
Since March 1998, we have recruited 77 volunteers, 55 of whom
are actively involved in any given month in working their own project.
We have achieved this figure by developing 22 different job descriptions
including GP List compilers, newsletter workers, evaluators, discount
card co-ordinators, trainers and events workers. All this has happened
very quickly and provides a wide basis for innovation and re-enforcing
ideas which work.
STEP ONE
The first step was to research what gay men's perception of Gay Men's Health
was, in order that an approach to re-cruitment could be tailored to the target
audience. This research was achieved by existing volunteers taking question-naires
around the Commercial Gay Scene. This elicited the information that the organisation
had tremendous commu-nity support and good will, but that it was seen as
being 'professional' to the point of not being part of the community.
STEP TWO
The support systems for volunteers were revised and improvements put in place.
Volunteer handbooks, policies, time recording systems, supervision, a comprehensive
training programme and tailor made work for individuals were all devised.
STEP THREE
Recruitment was not only through the Edinburgh gay scene, but through friends
of existing volunteers and with help from the Edinburgh Volunteer Exchange,
the business sector and higher education centres and colleges. Initially,
the focus was on volunteers with the energy and enthusiasm to take responsibility
for their own projects. Peer support within the volunteer group has enabled
skills to be transferred and confidence built.
Potential volunteers applied using a revised, simplified application
form, were interviewed and then chose or created a suitable job
remit. A high level of activity ensued with volunteers working
away, getting to know the agency and devel-oping work faster than
was originally anticipated. Volunteers developed peer educational
material in the form of a newsletter 'Spurt' which was designed
to change the way in which the community saw Gay Men's Health.
it was no longer viewed as a traditional health promotion service,
but as part of the community.
Now volunteers are responsible for recruiting others, developing
new job descriptions in a fast moving area. I have been amazed
at the speed of the changes which have happened and 1 am constantly
impressed by the volume of work that the many volunteers get through
and the achievements are there for all to see.
THE FUTURE
As more and more people from the gay community and beyond become involved,
so this part of Gay Men's Health will need to change and adapt in order to
involve every person as actively as they wish. More and more people contact
us wondering how they can become involved and we can't help being excited
by the fact that before long our volunteer force will represent a significant
proportion of the gay community. Our ultimate goal is to bring about a significant
and measurable drop in HIV transmission.
Bruce Fraser
Peer Education and Community Development Worker
QUOTES FROM VOLUNTEERS
“ Since starting my volunteer work with GMH I have felt so much more useful,
and fulfilled. I have met some interest-ing and friendly people. Most of all,
I have regained some of the confidence I lost over the last couple of years since
my diagnosis.”
“I just wanted to say a big thank-you for making Pride Scotland
the best weekend I’ve had for a long time. I had so much
fun. The trip through on the bus was great and the float was brilliant.
I’m so proud to be part of Gay Men’s Health and even
happier that I’ve made very dear friends.”
WEST LOTHIAN
The West Lothian project worker post has been funded initially
through the Healthy Gay Scotland campaign. jonathan Creel took
up post in February 1998 and after an initial networking and induction
phase set up a publicity campaign to start a gay men's group in
West Lothian in April 98.
The initial meeting of the group took place on April 8th and was
attended by six local men, the number of men who have made contact
so far is 21 and continues to grow both by word of mouth and through
publicity.
The main issues raised by the group so far have been:
Confidentiality
Safety
Coming out
Bisexuality
Family Commitments
Public Reactions
Some of the men in the group have become official Gay Men's Health
Volunteers. In addition we have recruited five female volunteers
who support and promote the aims of the group in West Lothian.
This joint approach has proved
extremely successful in raising confidence levels in the group and encouraging
positive images, as well as being less threatening for those who are exploring
their sexuality.
The group now has a base at a local community arts venue after
experimenting with several different locations. Social meetings
for the group and its volunteers take place throughout the area.
The project worker has an office base within West Lothian House,
and this has enabled inroads into policy and re-source provision
within the council. The group is represented on the local Sexual
Health Forum and has given direct input into the new three year
Community Care plan for West Lothian.
In tandem with this the group has also conducted a survey on discrimination
in the area and continues to attract atten-tion in the local media,
raising awareness of homophobia and issues for local lesbians and
gay men.
In the past three months there have already been visible changes amongst the
men involved in the group as seen in increased self esteem, increased interest
and participation in the group and decisions about their life and relation-ships.
Through the peer education approach the group has created a fun and safe place
to address more openly is-sues about safer sex and health. Having grown quite
rapidly we are now keen to consolidate upon our successes and develop a sustainable
local resource, and are now looking to future sources of funding.
Jonathan Creel
West Lothian worker
INCOME AND EXPENDITURE
Although relatively modest, the 14% increase in our funding income
in the 1997/98 financial year over the previous year, reflects
considerable success in the current climate of scarce resources
for HIV prevention work.
There was no change in the core funding received from Lothian
Health but the funding base has been broadened by successful application
for specific pieces of work.
This has enabled us to develop a range of initiatives :
w A project in West Lothian with a new part-time project worker
(Healthy Gay Scotland)
w A range of Commercial Gay Scene activities and events (Levi Strauss)
w Safer Sex Materials - a range of leaflets and posters (Lothian Health Promotion)
In addition, an increased budget for condoms for the Bar Jar Scheme
has enabled us to expand and develop the ser-vice to Edinburgh
gay scene venues. For the future, the Monument Trust have awarded
one year's funding for a pro-ject to provide information and support
on Combination Therapy treatments to HIV positive gay men and also
support for undiagnosed gay men who are considering testing.
In the forthcoming year Gay Men's Health will continue to face
the challenge of developing an even broader funding base, whilst
maintaining the effective use of the resources we secure.
FUNDING
The CORE funding comes from Lothian Health
£135,000
Health Promotion provides income for RESOURCES and for RAINBOW
TROUT
£12,586
Income for the GAY SCENE is from Levi Strauss
£10,600
Whilst Healthy Gay Scotland funds the WEST LOTHIAN WORKER
£10,550
Donations and generated income accounts for
£3,824
Douglas Gillies
Treasurer
INCOME AND EXPENDITURE
1997/98 1996/97
INCOME £175,593 £153,467
Lothian Health Board 78% 89%
Grants 20% 8%
Miscellaneous 2% 3%
EXPENDITURE £168,186 £144,304
Staff costs 58% 61%
Office costs 11% 9%
Other staff/volunteer costs 7% 9%
New premises non-recurring - 2%
Educational 17% 10%
Grants to GMSP Group - 1
%
Professional fees 1
% 1 %
Depreciation 6% 7%
Surplus for the year £2,722 £3,788
BALANCE SHEET
Total Net Assets £39,268 £36,546
Represented by:
Restricted
fund £31,805 £32,487
Unrestricted
fund £7,463 £4,059
THANK YOUS
Our Funders: Lothian Health Board
Lothian Health Promotion
Levi Strauss
Healthy Gay Scotland
All those who have donated
Clark Becket and staff, Blue Moon Cafe
Dianne, Brian, Peter and staff, CC Blooms
Robin, Graharn and staff, Claremont Bar
Kate Dykes, Joe Cooney and staff, No. 18 Sauna
Gary and staff, Route 66
Rae, Andy, Philip, Linda and staff, Newtown Bar
Fiona and staff, Nexus Cafe
Babs and staff, French Connection
Stag and Turret
Bob, Out of the Blue
David, PJ's
George Paterson
Pauline Fox and Jim Shanley, Harm Reduction Team
David Pryde and Andrew O'Donnell, ROAM
Dr Paul Flowers and Jamie Frankis, Medical Research Council, Glasgow
Paul lvison and staff, Gay Scotland
John Hein and staff, Scotsgay
Pride Scotland
Dr Sandy McMillan and Dr Dan Clutterbuck, Dept. of GUM, Royal Infirmary of
Edinburgh
Kyla Hogan, QC Healthcare
David Cameron and staff, Solas
Richard Duffner, EVOC
John Roberts, Steve Retson Project
Anne McEwan and staff, Lothian Health
Lesley Reid, Lothian Health
Dr Hester Ward, Lothian Health
Hamish MacDonald, Healthy Gay Scotland
Helen Chambers, SCVO
Nan McKenna, Edinburgh Volunteer Exchange
Ross Mackay, Milestone House
Jamie Rennie, Grace and Justine, Stonewall Youth Project
Dr Judy Bury, Primary Care Team
Alastair Dinnie, Crusaid Scotland
Dr Euan Stewart, Primary Care Team
Patrick Joyce, Jean Reid and all the volunteers, Lothian Gay and Lesbian Switchboard
David Johnson, Waverley Care Trust
Matthew Williams, Monument Trust
Moragh Reid and staff, Positive Help
Cathy Dransfield, Drug and Alcohol Project (West Lothian)
Ray de Souza, Edinburgh City Council
Flora Meadows
...and to all our volunteers and other supporters...
Annual Report concept and design by Grahame Robertson, a volunteer
at Gay Men’s Health
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