About Us Who we are
Outline is a registered charity run by volunteers advising, befriending and supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and those questioning their sexuality in the strictest confidence.
Who calls us?
People of all ages
Who are confused or worried about their sexuality
Who feel lonely or isolated
Who are looking for suitable accommodation
Those with relationship problems
Those looking for support in meeting with other gay people for the first time
Anxious parents
Seeking answers and general adviceWe take calls on?
Gay life in the local scene
Coming out
Transgender issues
HIV, AIDS and sexually transmitted infections
Safer sex and other health issuesOur Mission
Outline works towards being an equal opportunities organisation and has its own Equal Opportunities Policy. It will aim to serve the entire community irrespective of sex, race, age, nationality, physical ability, religious belief or social class.
Funding
Our funding has come from various sources including: The National Lottery 'Awards for All', Surrey Social Services, Elmbridge Borough Council, Woking Borough Council, West Surrey Health Authority and from private donations including our patron, the pop star, George Michael.
If you are interested in supporting us and donating to our charity click here to find out more.
A Brief History of Outline
Outline began as a project started by the Surrey Care Trust which was running a youth group and starting a helpline to support LGBT people up to the age of 25.
The Helpline was run by two youth group volunteers and advertisements were placed in local papers to attract volunteers to maintain the phone line. Seven people attended the first meeting which identified areas of training required for the new volunteers who responded to the advertisement.
The helpline had many calls but mostly from people who were over the age of 25. It was Surrey Care Trusts remit to work with the under twenty-fives and so felt that they could not meet the costs of continuing the line as it was no longer age specific. As a result Surrey Care Trust could also no longer provide accommodation to the phone line. A £2000 grant was secured from West Surrey Health Authority to help with the running costs, training the new volunteers and advertising. The first training for the LGB Helpline volunteers was set for 6 September 1998. Two further dates were set for 6 December and 13 December to complete training.
1999 was a very busy year for the new volunteers training was completed and the LGB Helpline was re-named Outline. A committee was formed. Funding and new accommodation at the top of the agenda, as the original £2000 grant was diminishing rapidly. Councils and individuals were being approached for funding at this stage. A cash flow forecast was produced. Surrey Police agreed to support outline.
They had to open a bank account, make publicity material create an image, try to find accommodation, write a constitution, create a budget forecast and make links with other organisations (phew). National Friend were approached for affiliation. The birth of our Logo and poster campaign "Dark in the Closet" was agreed.
George Michael had offered an interest in patronising the organisation, whilst others had not responded to our letters. He donated a substantial sum of money to the organisation, which became a milestone in its development.
The line re-located to the nearby home of one of the volunteers as a temporary measure, as permanent accommodation had not been found. It was voted that Outline should endeavour to become a registered charity. The constitution development and the application for charity status was sent to solicitors. Radio advertisements for new volunteers were transmitted by County Sound.
A funding bid from World Aids day fund was established to produce our original web site and the birth of the COINS (Coming out in Surrey) Project. We applied to the lottery for funding. Our first press release was issued to attract new volunteers.
New volunteers training programme was established due to response from press release. A training schedule was finalised and a member of the committee was appointed the training co-ordinator. We received money from the World Aids Day fund to the sum of £1150 from local Health Authorities and Social Services.
Publicity on Eagle FM attracted new volunteers. We registered our web site name - www.outlinesurrey.org which was the first phase of the COINS project. George Michael agreed to sign 12 Copies of his latest CD "Songs from the last Century" in time to raffle or auction for Christmas.
2000 saw the second instalment of monies received for the COINS project and £1000 was pledged by Woking Borough Council. An interview was given by the chairman of Outline with regards to George Michael's involvement together with articles in the Woking News and Mail and Informer group of newspapers. The solicitor's version constitution was adopted.
In February we had our first Annual General Meeting. The web site designer had been appointed on receipt of the final instalment for the COINS project and the relevant software packages required were sourced. Outcrowd™ was ailing desperately and it was decided that Outline would offer a partnership to the group in order to re-launch the youth group. CD sales raised £750.
Outcrowd™ was fully adopted by Outline, and a member of the Outline committee was appointed to deal with all Outcrowd™ matters. A project team was put in place for the COINS project and the web site. 360 item mail shot was despatched enclosing posters and cards to all local GP's GUM Clinics, hospitals and other local interested parties. A liaison point between the committee and the new group of volunteers was established. National Lottery granted £3994.48.Outline was still without accommodation. Runnymede Council denied a grant on the grounds of section 28 which raised Outline's profile and a press release was sent to local papers and was published. A live preliminary web site was put up. Delegates attended the National Friend conference in Cardiff. Local Centre Point were approached for accommodation. Centre Point had granted use of their premises to house the line.
By now we had Surrey Herald and Informer adverts running on a weekly basis, alternating between Out Crowd and Outline.
Accommodation with Centre Point was put on hold due to Woking Borough Council expressing concern that the use of the premises would be outside of the original specification on which Centre Point had been granted the lease on the buildings. Second phase of the COINS project was being developed, Computer, Printer and Software were purchased.
By the summer of 2000 considerable progress was made with COINS project. Brooklands College Students Union donated £250 towards the cost of a printer for the computer. The content of the site was taking longer than anticipated but was developing well. New volunteers were now shadowing the existing helpline volunteers. Outcrowd™ arranged a few social events, including an evening at the theatre and attending London Pride 2000. Membership had grown to over 14 members.
At long last, the line has moved in to a new office in Woking, shared with another organisation. We celebrated the occasion with a little 'cheese and wine' opening at the new premises, and the official cutting of the ribbon!
NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY 2000 Outline took part in the National Friend COMING OUT DAY 2000. Helplines across the country stayed open for 24 hours to receive calls from one national telephone number. Outline organised local publicity for the event and arranged a party in Woking. We all had a great evening, danced the night away, and saw many new faces.
2001 Another AGM a new chair: Lynne Dossetter. Neil Kimber became Co-Chair. New members to the Outline Committee were welcomed, and two new Trustees were elected. This year Outline opened on Sunday evenings in addition to Tuesday evenings. Outline also successfully negotiated a community partnership with Woking Association of Voluntary Services. WAVS offered Outline a much needed office space. Our patron George Michael donated £3,900.
In 2002 audience members at the London Gay Symphony Orchestra collected over £100 for Outcrowd™. Outline installed the Turing Project donated by London Lesbian Gay Switchboard. The Turing Project is an IT system enabling us to log calls to the line and it provides access to a computerised database of gay resources across the country.
2003 and members of Outcrowd™ took part in Walk for Life to raise money for CRUSAID. SPACE Youth Group closed sadly leaving Outcrowd™ as the only LGB youth group in Surrey. For the year 2002-2003 Outline received 97 calls, 14 emails, 2 letters and 2 clients for counselling. This shows the continuing need for support for the gay community of Surrey. In this year Outline also tendered a bid to Connexions Surrey. The plan was to fund a part time youth worker for Outcrowd™. At the end of this year Outcrowd™ lost it's meeting place.
2004 was financially a good year for Outline as it received awards from a variety of organisations: £1,500 awarded from Woking Borough Council. £500 awarded from Reigate and Banstead Borough Council. £500 awarded from Gatwick Community Airport Trust. It was also a good year for visibility as we had a presence at the 1st ever Reading Pride, handing out flyers to the public and doing an interview for Radio Berkshire. It culminated in the successful appointment of Connexions Personal Advisor. The post has been funded by Connexions Surrey and is being supported and hosted by Surrey County Youth Development Services. We have achieved the status of creating the 1st post of it's kind in the country.
In 2005 Outline began working with its new partners. We had a very successful re-launch to raise our profile and our new look website. There were many invited guests not least the mayor and his lady wife. Outcrowd™ membership increased dramatically with the joint efforts of Outline and the Connexions PA, again, highlighting a real and great need for services and support for the LGBT community.
The workload on volunteers increased dramatically as well and working with two big statutory organisations proved challenging and unfortunately only lasted one year.
2006 is only half way through and our calls and support are going up. Our youth group is re-finding its feet after the setback of 2005. Outline has also contributed in two pieces of consultation on the new Goods and Services Bill and the New Equality and Human rights consultation hosted by Woking Borough Council.
In September, Outline ran a stall at Reading Pride, raising awareness of our services and also highlighting the lack of LGBTQ provisions in Surrey compared to those available in Berkshire. The day was very successful and we made many useful links with other local organisations, we even survived the storm force winds that threatened to send our gazebos into orbit! :)
Our Partners
Outline would like to thank the following organisations for their support -
Our Patron - George Michael Awards For All Bearhug Brooklands College - Students Union CHUMS Connexions Elmbridge Borough Council Epsom & Ewell Borough Council Fleurs Amanda Gatwick Airport Community Trust Health Promotion Service Mark Graven Neil Kimber Pink Photography Pink Products Pink Weddings Reigate and Banstead Borough Council Sunvil Holidays Surrey County Council Surrey Police Telephone Helplines Association The Mailbox - Weybridge The National Lottery The Oatlands Park Hotel - Weybridge Woking Borough Council
