The founder and chief executive of a Welsh counselling charity dedicated to supporting LGBTQ+ people has been awarded an OBE in the King’s New Year’s Honours list.
Debbie Lane, who established the LGBT+ Cymru Helpline and its counselling service in 2004, has been given the honour for services to inclusion, to employment, to the LGBTQ+ community and to saving young lives.
She said: “This honour is an incredible moment of pride and joy for me and a recognition of the great people I have had the pleasure to work with over the years along with my passion to wanting to make a difference. I am absolutely overwhelmed and humbled to receive such an honour.
“I am completely overwhelmed by receiving this honour and I cannot thank the people enough who have supported and shaped my journey, my wife and our children and friends who stood by me every step of the way and my treasured colleagues who never gave up and always supported me.
“This honour is a testament to all those that I have had the privilege to work with over the years, the power of collaboration, passion and steadfast perseverance. It symbolises not just what one can achieve with determination but the huge amount of good we can accomplish working together in our communities.”
Debbie said that her own experiences led her to establishing the helpline and counselling services more than two decades ago.
She said: “From a young age I suffered with my mental health because of my hidden sexuality growing up in a homophobic environment and world. Then in my late twenties, I wanted to take my own life but then sought counselling which was a major positive turning point in my life, I could finally accept being a lesbian was ok.
“This is why 25 years ago I started campaigning for change in employment and civil law and work towards changing the hearts and minds of the communities we lived in, to be part of making a difference. I chaired the Wales TUC Equality Committee with an exceptional team on the sexual orientation regulations and civil partnerships as well as legally represented people who had been discriminated against.
“Later, in 2004, being passionate and determined to create a safe confidential space where LGBTQ+ people could come without fear of becoming a victim again when needing to reach out for help; I founded the LGBT+ Cymru Helpline and counselling service which is now called Progress Cymru Counselling.”
Speaking about the helpline charity, Debbie said it is facing an uncertain future and needs as much support as possible with donations as the New Year gets under way.
She said: “The charity is very close to my heart which has saved and changed thousands of lives over the years, particularly young lives struggling with their identity, as I once did as a teenager.
“I would love to be able to continue for another 20 years but heartbreakingly, through lack of funding, the charity may need to close our doors in April, if we do not find a large injection of cash soon. If the charity is able to achieve 2,000 regular monthly £5 donations, attract a celebrity or corporate sponsor, we will be able to continue forever our life saving work in the LGBTQ+ communities.”
She added: “If you can find it in your heart and can afford to make a pledge, we will be immensely grateful and together you will be part of making an incredible difference to saving many more precious young lives in the future.
“The charity works day and night, shoulder to shoulder and I would like to give a heartfelt thanks to the incredible staff and volunteers, as without them, none of this would have been possible and many lives would be lost.
“Finally, I must say this award is an incredible moment of pride and joy for me, a recognition of the great people I have had the pleasure to work with over the years along with my passion of wanting to make a difference.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.