ABOUT US
OUR HISTORY
ABOUT OUR ROOTS
Blossom began in 2019 being run from the living rooms of inspired volunteers who wanted to change the way young LGBTQ+ people connected. Quickly we discovered the huge need for supportive spaces for LGBTQ+ young adults.
By 2021 Blossom made a name for itself as a progressive and forward-thinking community-led organisation. In the years to come our goal is to make our passion into careers allowing us to provide our vital services to all those who need us.
Before working with Blossom our members tell us that they felt confused, isolated, and withdrawn.
We make sure that they blossom... into authentic, knowledgeable & confident people.
This allows our members to find true happiness and gives them the power to build sturdy careers, meaningful relationships, and pride in who they are.
2019
Founding Year
2020
Digital Launch
2021
Arts Focus launches
2022
Business Services launch
2023
Mentoring Service launches
WHAT OUR MEMBERS SAY
WE DO MORE THAN JUST GROUPS
PREVIOUS CAMPAIGNS
PRIDE COFFEE
#Merch
In Pride Month 2020 we had the pleasure of teaming up with KOJA Coffee in guildford to produce a pride coffee bag!
QUEER COMEDY
#LOL
In an effort to spotlight LGBTQ+ people in comedy we hosted an amazing queer comedy night.
WE ALSO PROVIDE NATIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES TO BUSINESSES.
We know creating inclusive cultures can be tricky, and that's why we set up a service for businesses - regardless of where they are on their journey.
OUR APPROACHES
Built by the LGBTQ+ Community
Whilst we do everything we can to make sure we have a diverse and progressive team behind us, we know that to truly make change in the LGBTQ+ community that we must centre, and more importantly listen to, the needs of the people who benefit from our work. That’s why we have commited to running multiple consultations in different forms across each year. This includes session feedback sheets, informal and formal consultation meetings, and an annual online feedback service. We use this data, along with monitoring the demographics of who uses our services along with how they use it to ensure we’re accurately representing the needs of our community.
Trauma Informed
Statistically, LGBTQ+ people are highly likely to experience trauma from their daily lives. We ensure we take a trauma informed approach to service delivery to reduce the impact on our service users. A Trauma informed approach takes into account that most people have at some point experienced a level of trauma and therefore considers this in the day to day actions we take whilst working with the community. This includes steps such as avoiding nicknames that a service user doesn’t dictate themselves, asking for an emergency contact rather than a parent or carers contact details, and always establishing our spaces as inclusive.
Intersectional and Holistic
We know that our service users are more than just LGBTQ+ – They’re fully rounded amazing, complex, diverse people with a range of experiences and view points. We ensure our work takes into account a person for all aspects of their being and ensure we provide a service that is inclusive of all LGBTQ+ people regardless of their ethnicity, race, heritage, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sex, relationship status, socio economic background, or any other social disadvantage.
