The Clare Project began as a monthly transgender support group in a Brighton & Hove beauty salon in 2000, with local grants supporting much-needed and affordable psychotherapeutic counselling.
Five years later, a joint venture with Dorset Gardens Methodist Church to create a safe space where trans people could meet, resulted in a regular weekly drop-in session, which has been running continuously ever since.
In 2015 Clare Project celebrated its 15th anniversary and undertook the ambitious step of becoming a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in order to oversee growing services including mental health and well-being groups, social activities, and an increasingly important on-line presence.
Clare Project is honoured to have been selected as one of the Mayors Charities for 2016-17 earlier this year.
Charity status (Registered Charity No 1165746) was granted in March 2016 and a newly established Board of Trustees has been tasked with steering the Clare Project into an unprecedented era of growth and change. This includes the fulfilment of their constitutional obligations, formalisation of the organisational structure, and changes to the staff and volunteers.
These changes include the departure of a stalwart and familiar face to many, Rosemary Allix. Rosemary was administrator for the Clare Project in its early days prior to becoming the facilitator at the drop-in, a position she held for a decade. She has long been the first port of call on-line, by phone and face-to-face for service users, often providing a lifeline in the darkest of times. Rosemary gave a large part of her time and expertise voluntarily, and will be remembered fondly by many.
The new board wish her all the best in her future ventures, and are grateful to former service user and volunteer, Julia Trangmar, who has kindly stepped in to hold an interim facilitator role while we arrange recruitment of two permanent members of staff to support the drop-in and other activities.
The newly appointed board members are:
Mx Taylor Blue: Taylor moved to Brighton from Yorkshire in 2013, and now lives in Kemp Town. He’s committed to social justice, trans visibility in the LGBT community and beyond…along with raw food, eco-living and his dog Wilbur.
Ms Kim Curran: Journalist Kim Curran has been Clare Project secretary for five years. She has been involved in organising many events and co-ordinates the Clare Project website. She is also vice-chair of a Brighton community association.
Nicky Cambridge: Nicky has been involved in trans issues since leading the Trans Equality Scrutiny for BHCC in 2012. She was also co-chair of the Trans Needs Assessment.
Dr Samuel Hall: Sam is a GP who lives in Brighton with his wife and five children. He is widely engaged in raising awareness of trans issues both in his medical role and voluntarily as Clare Project’s chair of trustees.
Ms Martine Howard: Martine lives in Brighton, has been involved with the Clare Project for over five years and has experience of working with a wide range of charities.
Mx D Humphreys: D lives and works in Brighton and is actively engaged in working towards trans equality both personally and professionally, through their policy officer role at the local council.
Dr Kate Nambiar: Kate is a doctor living in Brighton and runs a trans-specific sexual health service. She is committed to championing the cause of good access to all forms of healthcare for trans-identified people.
Christina Niewiadowski: Christina is a volunteer and drop-in committee member at the Clare Project. She has considerable skills and experience in managing small organisational finances and has taken on the role of treasurer to the board of trustees.
Rev Robin Selmes: Robin is a Methodist Minister who lives in Brighton with his wife and three children. He has supported and worked closely with a number of charities within the LGBT community and those who find themselves to be on the edge of society.
You must be logged in to post a comment.