New youth service launches in Milton Keynes specially for the young LGBTQ+ community

A youth service specially for the young LGBTQ+ community is to be re-launched in MK.

Local charity Q:alliance say it is a “crucial time” to provide a service that is contemporary and co-produced by young people.

Q:alliance has provided support, information and representation to the LGBTQ+ community in Milton Keynes and Bedford for over 20 years.

Their MK youth service was closed at the end of 2022 to initiate a city-wide needs assessment and to engage youth communities in important discussions around support and the empowerment of LGBTQ+ young people.

With funding from BBC Children In Need and People’s Health Trust, Q:alliance have worked in partnership with young people at their Bedford youth service to launch a survey for LGBTQ+ young people in Milton Keynes to give their valuable opinions.

In addition, they are hosting ‘listening events’ in various settings for young people to engage in these discussions in person.

The information gathered from the survey and focus groups will directly impact how they build their new youth service.

The survey can be found on the Q:alliance website and by scanning the QR code on posters in youth settings.

Stevie Eglinton-Pacitti, a Q:alliance trustee, said: “Too often adults make decisions about what young people need without hearing their voices. Q:alliance has a proud history within the city of providing safe spaces for LGBTQ+ young people.

"We want that to continue, and to do so we feel it is vital to engage with the young members of our community and ask what they need from us, using their feedback to shape the future of Q:alliance’s youth services.

“Our ultimate aspiration is nothing short of a city where every space our LGBTQ+ young people access becomes a safe space for them."

Q:alliance has already founded the LGBTQ+ Schools Partnership Forum and are working in collaboration with city schools and other ally organisations, to provide safe spaces, inclusive education and celebration of unique identities.

Jennifer Hill, Operations Manager of Q:alliance, chairs the forum. She said: “Schools can be wonderful assets to the wellbeing of LGBTQ+ students when they are committed active listeners and have the confidence to be trailblazers. I’m delighted that so many schools have engaged in the forum and share Q:alliance’s devotion to making Milton Keynes a place where our youth communities can be safe and celebrated”

Q:alliance currently offers a safe space in conjunction with YiS Young People’s Mental Health and MK Central Library every Tuesday during term time, between 3.30pm and 5pm term time. No appointment or referral is needed and young people can drop in to access wellbeing support, information and signposting.

The charity was established by a merger of several projects including Lesbian and Gay Link, which was launched as a lesbian and gay helpline in 1975, and the award winning charity, Youthline, which started in 1985.

It is managed and run by local people who have detailed knowledge of the issues and challenges that organisations and individuals face locally.