This month marks 10 years of Alphabets Youth, which over time has grown into a larger Alphabets community to include Alphabets Adults, a group to support adults ageing out of the youth service.
Read below to find out more about the work Alphabets does, and a case study reflecting on our Queer Winter Prom at the end of last year.
Alphabets Adults is our monthly community group for LGBTQ+ people 18+, based in The Armadillo in Yate. It was started in January 2022 after an idea of replicating the Youth Work model to adults, therefore providing a space in South Gloucestershire for LGBTQ+ adults to meet, socialise and talk about what’s important for them. LGBTQ+ adults often express a desire for sober spaces to meet as well, and so the space is fundamentally alcohol free. Over the last 3 years, Alphabets Adults has grown into a space where oftentimes people are exploring and expressing their new identities for the first time, and has also intentionally become a safe space for many neurodiverse LGBTQ+ people.
For over a year now, adults at our group have been asking for some kind of LGBTQ+ formal event, specifically a prom (as it had been a bad experience for some of our adults) and when the plan for Queer Prom came about, it was therefore a direct response to something the community wanted. Lived experience and community voice is a central tenet of The Diversity Trust, and so we wanted to consult the adults throughout the event planning process to make sure it was a space created for and by them. We ended up with a volunteer group of adults on a “Prom Planning Committee”, which spent their time on a vast range of tasks for the event, from graphic design work to decorating the space and planning and running activities at the evening.
We reflected that School Prom is often the first and unique opportunity that people have to get dressed up in formal clothes, so the Prom Planning Committee wanted to encourage people to dress formally. We acknowledged that sometimes LGBTQ+ people can also face issues in formal settings knowing what to wear, so they feel accepted but also comfortable and not ‘stick out’. In the end, the volunteers chose the dress code and encouraged people to come in formal clothes that they feel great in.
“Personally, it was amazing. I feel like it’s one of the only times I’ve been able to be myself in a formal setting like that” – Jay (Lead Youth Worker & Designated Safeguarding Lead)
We also knew that for a lot of our LGBTQ+ Adults that it was the first time they would be dressing and presenting in a formal way that is affirming to their gender identity, and so we wanted to support wherever we could in this:
- “Prom Shopping Day”: A social media publicised shopping day, where The Diversity Trust staff and volunteers accompanied some of the adults to help them style, try on and buy an affirming prom outfit. Everyone attending was successful in some way – whether that was a first dress, a new suit, or shoes.
- ‘Getting Ready Space’: As well as the main prom space, we hired an additional room for attendees to come and change, acknowledging that not everyone can do this at their home, or travel to the event in affirming clothes.
- Makeup: Makeup is an important tool for self-expression, especially for the trans femme & non-binary community, and so we wanted to provide an opportunity for any adults who wanted their makeup done by an expert. Makeup artist Mattie very generously volunteered their time to help in the ‘getting ready space’
Makeup artist, Mattie (@pumps0rett1 on Instagram), with the adults
“It was so nice to get together with and feel accepted by other queer people. I heard from a few people that this was their first time dressing and presenting fully how they want to” – Direct quote from an adult
With all the prep done, all that was left was to enjoy the event! It ended up an amazing success – we had around 25 attendees, including outreaching to some community members who hadn’t been along to Alphabets Adults before. It felt like an incredibly open and safe environment, and looking back, it was almost magical how it came together.
In an increasingly polarised and hostile world, it is such a privilege to be able to create community-led events for marginalised people – community spaces are becoming vital to prevent isolation and support vulnerable communities, and so if you would like to support our ongoing Alphabets project, and wider community work, please consider donating to us here.
To finish off, here are some direct quotes from attendees of Queer Prom. A special thank you to all the Adults that volunteered their time to make this event a success, and another thank you to Mattie for doing makeup for attendees!
“I’ve always regretted not going to my school proms due to knowing I’d have to choose between dressing as my assigned gender or face harassment, so your Queer Prom really healed something for me. Now when my future kids ask about my prom or want to see photos, I’ll be proud to show them. Thank you for creating that for us.”
“I’m not sure I have enough words to describe how amazing Queer Prom was . Alphabets Adults has been my lifeline, my support and my family for quite a while now. I really do not know how I would have got through this year without them. It’s been a really difficult year and I was feeling very down and lost a lot of confidence. Queer Prom really helped me to feel beautiful again. I felt safe and accepted and had sooooo much fun. It felt like the perfect way to celebrate all that we’ve done this year and the love and support we share. It was everything I could have ever wished for.”
