About Our Events
Outsiders events are inclusive, unthreatening and welcoming, and held in really lovely venues. They are living examples of our ethos, that disabled people are just like anybody else, wanting to enjoy life to the full. Club events listed here are for Outsiders Club members but we also run events for Health Care professionals who concern themselves with the inclusion of sex and relationship issues within their professions. These events come under the umbrella of SHADA, the Sexual Health and Disability Alliance. See www.shada.org.uk.
Outsiders also plans to run its own conferences and is setting up a Think Tank to work out ways to make Outsiders sustainable. Large Outsiders’ fundraising events are run through the Leydig Trust and Outsiders also does fundraising outreach at Glastonbury and Erotica.
Outsiders Club events are open to everybody — you don’t have to be a member — just so long as you are able handle your own affairs independently without support (which we are not equipped to offer) you can just come along to see if you like us. It would be wrong, however, to judge Outsiders on our events alone, as the Club offers many services and options, and many of our most interesting members are also very private and use the club to make friends on a one-to-one basis, without ever venturing to our events.
Newcomers who come to Club events are encouraged to join Outsiders if they wish to come along again.
Club events are run by volunteers who have been members of Outsiders for some time and are experienced at socializing and the issues involved. We run Outsiders like any other private club, respecting the privacy of our members and giving them the best possible service. Thus, everybody pays for their own food and drinks, arranges their own transport, and is respectful to other members.
As well as being comfortable places for our members who seek human contact and a chance really be themselves, our Cub events provide a safe place for members who have been corresponding and phoning each other for a while, and feel it’s time to meet. Our events provide members with practice in socializing and sometimes we run workshops to provide more encouragement. We provide a place for peer support networking and initiate discussions on intimate issues that may be acting as a barrier to getting close with potential lovers when you have a body which is impaired.
Our events are all held in accessible venues which are selected to be quiet and spacious, where the staff are courteous to disabled guests and the food delicious and inexpensive. We aim to select venues which are close to public transport and have ample parking nearby.
Outsiders knows how important our services are. Research has proven that having several sets of friends is very important for mental health. The standard medical textbook on sex and disability confirms that peer support is the most important route to coming to terms with your disability and enjoying life.
Most of our events are lunches held regularly on a Saturday afternoon, which gives people all morning to get there and all evening to get home. People do travel long distances to attend. As well as luncheons, we run picnics and parties, frequent festivals, have museum visits, theatre outings, enjoy cruises and hold peaceful political demonstrations against legislation which restricts the sexual freedoms of disabled people.