2018: a year in review
As civil servants across the UK go “back to school” for the new year, we take a look back at what the Civil Service LGBT+ Network has done in 2018.
So we’ve all seen off 2018, and welcomed in the new year. 2019 has lots in store for the Civil Service LGBT+ Network, building on the wide range of activities we’ve undertaken in 2018.
What we did
We’ve taken part in no fewer than 6 pride events across the length and breadth of the UK. We, of course, took part in Pride in London in July; but civil servants also marched in places like Hastings, Manchester and Leeds (to name but a few).
The national networks also led groups in each of the 3 capital prides outside of London: Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh. This year, we’re aiming to be there again!
We hosted around 30 events last year too. Most of these events this year have been social events, and we’re slowly expanding them across the country.
You can keep up to date with our 2019 events on our events page.
We’ve held social events in Bristol, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Cardiff, and Edinburgh in 2018; and we’ve got plans to do the same again this year. In 2019, thanks to volunteers in Bristol, we will now also have monthly socials for south west civil servants, and we’re working towards the same in the Cardiff and South Wales area.
Want to help? We’re always looking for local organisers to help out; get in touch with others volunteering in your region.
Led by bi civil servants, 2018 saw us launch ‘BiSpace’; a new space for people in the Civil Service who identify as bisexual, pansexual, asexual, queer to meet. We launched it with 3 events in Manchester, Bristol and London to mark Bi Visibility Day – and we’ll be holding more events throughout 2019 so that our network is inclusive of bi+ staff.
We also launched our first national Civil Service Allies Week. For 2018, we invited allies to share what they’re doing locally to be a good ally; and for 2019, we’re planning to make Allies Week bigger and better.
Our Allies Week helped us to publish more than 50 blog posts in 2018. We also kept our newsletter running and social media feeds topped up so that you could find out what we were up to, and how you could get involved.
We also worked closely with Dame Sue Owen’s LGBT Champion’s group and with Civil Service Employee Policy (CSEP) as part of the Civil Service’s review into bullying and harassment, and worked with the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion team to ensure that the Civil Service was practicing what we preach as part of the Government’s LGBT Action Plan.
Onwards to 2019
We’ve had a great 2018; and we’re looking forward to 2019. Keep your eyes on our event listings and make sure you’ve signed up to our newsletter to keep up to date with all the latest news and information.