News & Events

Lama Rod Owens event in Brighton

By editor | March 4, 2022

MindOut is very excited that Lama Rod Owens, Buddhist minister, is coming to Brighton for an event on ‘Queer Resiliency in Times of Change’. Lama Rod is a US Buddhist teacher, bestselling author, activist, and authorized Lama in the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism. He will be in Brighton for a day of reflection and…

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Vacancy: CEO

By editor | February 8, 2022

We are looking for a committed candidate with senior leadership experience of leading a service delivery organisation, ensuring infrastructures and resources are in place to match a growing demand. You will bring a strong understanding of the complexity of LGBTQ mental health services, and how to support their expansion. With a collaborative management style, you…

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Emily stands in front of a white background wearing a pink floral shirt.

Emily Ballantyne appointed as Interim CEO

By editor | February 4, 2022

Emily Ballantyne (she/her) has been appointed as Interim CEO at MindOut.  After 22 years as founder CEO Helen Jones is stepping down on 17th February.  Emily will be working with the Trustees to recruit a new permanent CEO. She has worked in the community and voluntary sector for 25 years as a volunteer, specialist advice…

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Vacancy: Volunteer Opportunities

By editor | February 4, 2022

Join our dynamic, growing LGBTQ mental health service. We are seeking volunteer Telephone Befrienders, Peer Mentors and Online Support Workers Closing Date: 5pm, Monday 14th March 2022 visit www.mindout.org.uk/jobs to download an application pack

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White appearing women smiling into the camera, she has curly short hair and is sitting on rainbow steps

CEO, Helen Jones, receives MBE in the New Years Honours

By editor | January 1, 2022

MindOut is delighted to announce that our out-going founder CEO, Helen Jones, will receive an MBE in the New Years Honours. She is being honoured for her contribution to LGBTQ mental health over the 22 years since she started MindOut. ‘When I heard that I was offered an MBE I considered whether or not to…

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Self-Advocacy Workshop leaflet

New course of Self-Advocacy workshops for LGBTQ people over 50

By editor | December 10, 2021

As part of MindOut’s Age Matters project, we are planning a series of workshops for older LGBTQ people. These workshops will be held via Zoom. These workshops are available to any people over 50 years old who identify as LGBTQ, as well as any MindOut service users, volunteers, staff, and trustees. You will be able…

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Pink MO counselling service £4K target pic

The Big Give Christmas Challenge turns up trumps

By editor | December 7, 2021

For our winter fundraising campaign this year we tested out The Big Give Christmas Challenge. As the largest match funding campaign in the UK, we gave our supporters the opportunity to double their donation so they could have twice the impact on MindOut’s counselling service. We never expected to hit our £4000 target within 24…

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QTIPOC appearing person smiling into the camera, standing in front of painted wall of the pride colours, white coloured text next to their head reads 'LGBTQ+ glossary'

MindOut’s LGBTQ(+) glossary

By editor | December 7, 2021

Welcome to MindOut’s LGBTQ (+) glossary. There will always be evolving terminology around sexual and gender identities and simple explanations can be useful. Here’s our guide to help us all be better allies.    Sexual Orientation Glossary   + (plus) ‍The ‘+’ at the end of LGBTQ+ is used to acknowledge the many terms to describe those that have a minority sexual orientation and/or gender identity, as not all of these identities are specified in the LGBTQ initialism, which stands for lesbian,…

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White appearing person protesting holding a sign that says 'act now'.

The Body Shop – A socially responsible corporate

By editor | December 6, 2021

We LOVE The Body Shop! And luckily for us, they seem to love us too. MindOut has worked with TBS since 2019 when we were chosen as one of their charities of the year. Since then they have continued to impress us with their commitment to LGBTQ mental health and they are a shining example…

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Snowman wearing a long scarf and hat. Rainbow snow flakes are falling on the snowman

‘Winter blues’ tips with Darren, our Counselling Coordinator

By editor | December 6, 2021

As the days draw shorter, the sun gets low in the sky and the weather turns cold, our pace of life can change, and with it our outlook. Many of us will have had this sense of ‘the winter blues.’ For some people, the effects can be really heavy and we’d consider them to have…

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Group of LGBTQI people with a pink background, on of the person's is wearing the intersex pride flag top. The text at the top of the image reads 'Our bodies, Our lives, Our rights'.

IDAHOBIT Day 2022

This year’s IDAHOBIT 2022 theme is ‘Our bodies, Our rights, Our choice.‘ As LGBTQI+ people this day highlights our basic human rights to live our sexualities and express our gender(s). We deserve to be free from physical violence and oppression, from so-called ‘therapies’ to forced sterilisation of Trans and Intersex people. Hear from the MindOut team...
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Rita Hirani joins MindOut as Chief Executive Officer

Rita Hirani (she/her) has been appointed as the new CEO at MindOut. Rita will build on the foundation and fantastic work done by founder Helen Jones and the MindOut team so far. Rita plans to develop, diversify and strengthen the charity as we move into a post-covid era. Rita is a social entrepreneur and trainer,...
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A non-binary femme embracing another student in a school bathroom

Loneliness support this #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek

Loneliness is a sadly common experience amongst LGBTQ+ communities and is the theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week. A lot of social activity is centred on the commercial ‘scene’ which might not be accessible to people for all kinds of reasons. Geographical isolation, having a low income, not feeling welcomed on the basis...
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trans flag background with text on top that reads 'keep your promise ban conversion therapy

MindOut stands in solidarity with the trans community

We are dismayed by the UK Government’s plans to backtrack on the conversion therapy ban, which has actively excluded our trans siblings. Trans rights are human rights and we stand shoulder to shoulder with every trans person on this matter. The Government’s own data shows that trans people are more likely to be subjected to...
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Introducing Calvin Stovell, our People of Colour Development Manager

Calvin Stovell (he/him) joined MindOut in February 2022 as our LGBTQ People of Colour Development Manager. Calvin is leading on the organisation’s anti-racism work and is developing interventions and support to specifically help LGBTQ people of colour with their mental health. Prior to joining MindOut, Calvin worked as an Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) providing...
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Join our ‘Work It Out’ sessions this Stress Awareness Month

For many people work is a big stressor in life. LGBTQ people can risk feeling unseen, excluded or discriminated against at work, heightening stress. If you can relate, you might be interested in our ‘Work It Out’ services – support for LGBTQ people in paid employment. Our Work It Out peer support group is held...
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MindOut’s counselling service, busier than ever

Over the past year, MindOut’s counselling service has recovered from the disruption caused by the pandemic, and is now bigger than ever. We’re doing our best to keep up with the demand for low-cost LGBTQ-affirmative counselling, but we’ve had to put in some restrictions to help manage our waiting list. At the moment, unfortunately, we...
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white appearing drag artist wearing a sequenced jump suit with their back towards the camera

Bingo Ball Fundraiser with Fast Forward 15 and Alfie Ordinary 

This International Women’s Day we attended the Fast Forward 15 Bingo Ball Fundraiser with fabulous drag prince, Alfie Ordinary, at ExCeL London.   Fast Forward 15 is a not-for-profit mentoring scheme for women working in events, hospitality and travel. As we also offer peer mentoring at MindOut, the collaboration was a perfect fit.   A highlight...
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Self-Advocacy Workshop leaflet

Trans Healthcare Self Advocacy Workshop

MindOut is planning a Self-Advocacy workshop for Trans people on trans healthcare. The workshop will be held on Zoom on Thursday 24th March, 2.30 – 4pm. It will be led by Lou Thomas (they/them), MindOut’s Trans Advocate.  It’s open to trans service users and volunteers. The workshop will cover speaking up for yourself, accessing services...
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