We want to give young people the freedom to express themselves . . .
WANDER inside this café on certain evenings during the month and it feels just like any other club you would remember from your youth.
The room is alive with the hum and chatter of young voices, the source of which is a group of teenagers sitting on chairs and couches that fill the ground floor of the building occupied by GISDA – a homeless charity – on Caernarfon’s main square.
One group of youngsters sit around a board game, others sit talking about their day.
However, there’s one thing that makes this club different – all of its members identify themselves as being part of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community.
It’s just one of two clubs of its kind in the whole of North Wales, the Viva LGBT group in Rhyl being the other.
Aled David Griffiths, along with his friend and colleague Rebecca Davies Chapman – two people who I’d later hear being affectionately described as the “parents” of the club – set up the group more than a year ago.
Both work for the NHS child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) but volunteer their time and expertise to run the club, which they set up as a way of bringing youngsters from the LGBT community together.
And let’s face it, while those teenage years can be hard on anyone growing up in a primarily rural – and often isolated – area, doing that while coming to terms with your sexuality brings an entirely new level of complexity.
Aled, from Penygroes near Caernarfon, said: “What we wanted to do was to create an inclusive environment for young people from the LGBT community, somewhere they could come and have the freedom to chat, make new friends and express themselves whichever way they wanted.”
For Aled, the project is very much a labour of love. In fact, the idea was partly borne out of his experiences growing up as a gay man. It’s given him a chance to reflect on his own experiences and help others who are about to embark on the same challenging journey.
“I had a difficult journey growing up. There were no similar social groups which I could be a part of and, at times, I felt really isolated, right up until I left for university.
“By doing this, I’ve had a chance to look back on my own experiences and, hopefully, it’ll help others going through a similar situation,” Aled said.
If the club’s popularity is any indication, then Aled seems to be succeeding. From humble beginnings, the group has grown considerably in the past 18 months – from just one member to a core membership of up to 20 young people
One of the regulars is Emily Keating, from Mynytho on the Llŷn Peninsula. Having attended a Catholic school, the 17-year-old college student says she first started to have feelings for members of the same sex when she was around 12.
“I used to make up excuses as to why I was looking at pictures of girls on the internet,” she laughed. “It wasn’t until I got a little bit older and I saw people talking openly about being gay online that I became more comfortable with the idea.
“Where I come from, I’m like the only gay in the village or the only lesbian in school.
“I used to find it difficult to speak about my sexuality. I first considered myself bisexual, it took me a couple of years to come out fully. It was really refreshing to go to somewhere (the club) where I wasn’t the black sheep.
“Everyone’s really nice and I’ve made so many friends.
“It’s nice to have somewhere you can be who you want and you can be around people who know where you’re coming from.”
Another member is Howard Trueman, who regularly travels from Blaenau Ffestiniog to attend. The 17-year-old said: “I really enjoy the education side of the club.”
What he’s talking about is the activities that the group leaders organise. They hold sessions covering everything from online safety to sexual health to debates.
“There’s always a good mixture of learning and fun stuff to do here. This is a very homely place where everyone is welcome. There’s no judgement, you can walk in and just help each other,” added Howard.
But the group is not just about getting young members of the LGBT community to socialise – it also aims to change lives for the better.
Aled points to recorded research which suggests that 24% of homeless young people in the UK are LGBT+ (Rutter, 2015) while 44% of young LGBT+ people have disclosed having suicidal thoughts at some point in their lives (RCN, 2015).
These are worrying statistics and ones that the group leaders are doing their bit to help combat.
Group leader Rebecca says that there is a large “crossover” between her and Aled’s work with CAMHS and their role in the youth club.
“We sometimes get young people coming through the door who are at potential risk of developing mental health issues because they feel isolated, unheard or haven’t had the opportunity to meet others experiencing similar challenges,
“We’ve had some come here who are ever so quiet to begin with you can barely get a word out of them. However after attending for a while they really come out of their shell and that’s amazing to see.” ● The LGBT youth club takes place every other Monday at the GISDA building on the Maes in Caernarfon between 6pm and 8pm. For more information, e-mail lgbt@ gisda.co.uk. Pictures: ARWYN ROBERTS