About Polari

Polari's work 1993-2009

Set up in 1993, Polari has been an independent lesbian and gay  organisation that works for better services for older lesbians, gay men bisexuals and transgender people.


* Raising awareness of the needs of older lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people
* Listening to older lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people
* Getting their voices heard by service providers and planners
* Exploring innovative ways that their needs might be addressed
* Working with service providers, commissioners and planners on the development of good practice and LGBT friendly services

We have carried out

1) policy and strategy work with local and national Government departments to get older LGBT needs on the agenda,

and we have offered

1)advice to older LGBT people’s groups how to get their views and needs heard

2)a consultancy carrying out research, and training related to older LGBTs

3) an information service: for older LGBT people and those who support them.

Policy and Strategy

Polari has worked to influence policy and strategy at national and local (London) levels so that all relevant services recognise the needs of, and provide appropriately for older lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people.

The Polari in Partnership Project

This project (which ran from 2002-2005) involved older lesbians and gay men in local decision making by

* Convening local groups of older lesbians and gay men in Hackney, Kingston and Westminster to discuss their needs and their views of local services
* Working with local councils; PCTs and other health service trusts; local Age Concerns and the voluntary sector; and other relevant bodies.

Work focused on housing, health, care and other help to stay independent, and community safety.

We developed our future directions from what we learned from this work at local level, from our season of seminars Autumn/Winter 2004/5, and from our conference in October 2005.

We have consulted with older LGB and T people and carried out research: for instance 2007-8 we consulted older LGB people on mental health services, older LGB people on general practice, and talked to older T people on their needs in general.

Documentation on our work will be kept here as an archive.