Welcome to our vibrant community
PLUS (People Like US) is a group for members of the LGBTQ+ community, under 25, looking for space to safely meet and be amongst peers.
PLUS Group is both a social and support space, so there is a bit of gabbing, some games, but we can offer support with tougher things like family conflicts, learning less harmful coping strategies, and seeking housing, for example.
Everyone is welcome, whether you’re certain of who you are, or whether you’re just on your way there. Here, there’s no pressure to have all the answers: there is time and space for you to try new identities on for size, and there is no expectation that they have to stick. We know gender and sexualities are fluid, and we want to encourage getting to know how you want to be known, and seen, without judgement and shame.
New attendees are always welcome, feel free to get in touch and come down one Wednesday evening to see what we’re about.
“it’s nice to hang around people you see yourself in”
“Coming here is free and communal, it is a good place to hang out and meet people”
“its one of the few places young queer people say its safe, its supportive, inside, you can be yourself and you’re not wandering around the streets. ”
What we do
Youth Group
PLUS Group started 18 years ago, after some research came to an end. Pam, our esteemed founder, realised there was a need for a space for members of the LGBTQ+ community, to meet, talk, and be around one another, so she made it a regular thing.
Now, the essence of the group remains, and we meet every Wednesday evening (sometimes making appearances at events like Pride, or having the odd sleepover) to hang out and talk about things that matter to us.
We all use and respect each other’s preferred/chosen names and pronouns.
Podcast
Not to toot our own horn (well, not too much) but we’re quite an insightful and clever bunch.
Sometimes we can sit down, over some toast, and end up having some pretty in-depth conversations about everything from getting new hair cuts to understanding new legislation that had been passed, so, we decided to record it.
Young people often have to fight to be heard, more so when they’re LGBTQ+, and by creating the podcast we get to amplify ourselves and hopefully create a resource, and a source of entertainment, for others like us that maybe can’t join us in person.
Support
There’s a lot of peer support at PLUS Group, there’s always space to listen and share. Sometimes we are able to solve problems, or come up with ways to cope, as a group, and sometimes we just listen and support one another.
There is plenty of support from the staff, too: counselling; abuse support; hate crime support; and, education.
