At a time when demand for our services
have never been greater, we’re finding it more and more difficult
to fund some important aspects of our work for young men who reside
outside of our primary funding boroughs.
Please help ensure our work continues for ALL gay and
bisexual young men in London.
It’s
vital we continue to support young men from all over
London
OutZone
is one of London’s oldest and best known youth projects for gay and
bisexual young men. Since 1997, hundreds of young men have made use
of our weekly youth group, telephone
and online support and our specialist one2one
service, regardless of whereabouts in London they come
from.
Residential
Weekend Courses 2009/10:
We’re looking to raise enough money to pay for at least one residential weekend course for up to 14 young men.
Here’s how you can help:
There are several different ways in which you show your support for OutZone and help ensure our work continues.
Donate online: Click on the DONATE NOW banner below to make a donation by debit/credit card. A safe and secure way to make a donation towards our work, by debit or credit card, no matter how large or small. Every £1 donated in this way means we receive £1.28 (with gift aid - if you are a taxpayer in the UK).
By cheque/PO: Cheques and postal orders should be made payable to 'PACE' and can be sent to OutZone using our FREEPOST address: OUTZONE - Freepost NAT 5443, London N7 9BR
In kind: Donate stuff for us to sell on our eBay Store – Contact us if you’d like to donate items for our online shop.
Why would you want to support OutZone?
The ‘PACE Youth Survey’ asks specific questions about how our young users feel about their lives in relation to:
- emotional health and well-being
- family and support networks
- experiences of bullying and discrimination
- exercise, diet, nutrition
- drug and alcohol use
- sexual health and risk of HIV infection
Young people complete an initial youth survey needs assessment form when they first access our youth groups or other support services, and youth workers conduct follow up (or tracking) surveys at regular intervals, while they continue to stay engaged with us. To date, 141 needs assessments have been completed by PACE. Initial results reveal some worrying statistics about how lgbt young people feel at the point of accessing our services, for example:
- 28% have attempted suicide by the time they reach us
- 17% regularly think about harming themselves at point of contact
- 19% are deliberately hurting themselves
In total 34% have attempted suicide, harmed themselves or thought about harming themselves in the 6 months prior to accessing support
- 27% feel isolated often or most of the time
- 20% never or only occasionally feel good about themselves
- 17% never or only occasionally feel confident with other people
- 30% feel worried/anxious often or most of the time
40% experienced negative reactions when they told someone about their sexuality - a significant number have told no one at all
- 25% felt they would be in danger from someone they knew for being LGBT (commonly a family member)
- 21% are being actively bullied at point of contact
- 16% have used class A drugs
In all, 71% of young people who accessed PACE Youth services reported one or more of these indicators of need
We hope to publish further findings from the PACE Youth Survey on our website during 2009/10. Check back soon.
The
OutZone
Youth Project at PACE is PROUDLY supported
by: