Polari is closing and a new organisation is being set up
After 16 years campaigning for greater awareness of the needs of older lesbians and gay men (and latterly bisexual and trans older people) Polari is handing on the baton
Polari (1993-2009) is closing
Polari, the organisation that has campaigned since 1993 for greater awareness of, and more inclusive services for, older lesbians and gay men (and latterly also for bisexual and transgender older people) will be closing at the end of March 2009.
A new user-led older LGBT organisation, Age of Diversity, is setting up
Our important work of the past sixteen years will be carried on by other organisations, and Polari is delighted to announce that its Director, Lindsay River, is working with other older LGBT people to launch a new, user-led organisation:
Age of Diversity, the Older Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Alliance.
( ageofdiversity@googlemail.com )
Polari’s work
Polari has always been a very small organisation but has had considerable influence nonetheless, bringing the voices of the older LGBT people we have consulted to government departments, local authorities and service providers. An archive of our work and many achievements will be kept at www.polari.org
Our policy and strategy work, and user involvement and consultation has been Polari’s core task: something that has been well recognised by our funders, Comic Relief, the Big Lottery, City Parochial Foundation, City Bridge Trust and Lloyds TSB. Polari’s work as a catalyst and instigator, as an advisor and sometimes as a challenging voice has been widely effective. While we are disappointed that there is still not the range of services that we know that older LGBT people want, we do see that more service providers and local commissioners are beginning to think about how inclusive and appropriate their older services are. The answer to ‘where’s the nearest gay care home?’ is still ‘Berlin’, but we are delighted that the Commission for Social Care Inspection has produced material to stimulate better services for older LGBT people who use care.
What about the future?
The new organisation, Age of Diversity, will be unfunded at first but plans to focus the enthusiasm, expertise and voluntary effort of the older LGBT communities to make a better future for older LGBT people. It will also work with partners such as Age Concern, Stonewall Housing and Stonewall to that end. It needs in time to become bigger and better known than Polari and to involve large numbers of our older communities. Older lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people have been the strength and heart of Polari: more will be heard from them and their new campaigns in the years to come in the new Age of Diversity we foresee.
Join with us in celebrating the achievements of Polari, as we hand on the baton to Age of Diversity.
Contact details for Age of Diversity – and do join their mailing list
Age of Diversity will eventually have a website. In the meantime please do contact the new organisation at ageofdiversity@googlemail.com and by writing to
Age of Diversity
c/o Consortium of LGBT Voluntary and Community Organisations
J111 Tower Bridge Business Complex
100 Clements Road, Southwark
London, SE16 4DG
POLARI’S ACHIEVEMENTS
Polari’s achievements include ground-breaking research (‘As We Grow Older’, 1995), years of consultation with older lesbians and gay men, a project that involved them together with local policy makers and service providers in three London Boroughs (Polari in Partnership 2002-2005, reported in ‘Being Taken Seriously, 2006) a major Conference for service providers (‘In the Life’) in 2005. Since this time Polari has undertaken research on the experience of older lesbian gay and bisexual users of mental health services, and users of general practice, consultation work locally and strategic work on many advisory groups and user reference groups.
Forthcoming
Not Safe For Us Yet: The experiences and views of older lesbian, gay men and bisexuals using mental health services in London (A scoping study), Sam Wintrip, Polari 2009
The experiences of older lesbians, gay men and bisexuals using general practice, Lindsay River, Polari 2009
Polari’s work and references can be found on our website at www.polari.org
Contributed by PIPP Project Co-ordinator
