The Camden People’s Theatre (CPT), Come As You Are (CAYA) Trans & Non-Binary communities supportive Arts Festival at Poole Lighthouse has marked a positive sea-change for our Trans & Non-Binary communities in Bournemouth Dorset & Poole.
The Network led with CPT and the Lighthouse, on community and broader strategic and PR outreach for the festival, which comprised a three-day (29th November to 1st December) theatre, music and panel discussion (image below), programme at Poole Lighthouse, which was the final part of the CAYA national tour.
The Network wishes to thank Poole Lighthouse for its enthusiastic support to CAYA (and CPT) for the festival’s guiding purpose of highlighting Trans & Non-Binary community inclusion and counteracting transphobia at national and local levels. A core theme of the festival and featuring in its arts performances and in a focused way in its directly Network enabled and chaired Panel Discussion, was the negative mental health impacts on non-acceptance of Trans & Non-Binary community members by transphobic elements of society, and poor understanding and support provision in national & local NHS services, of Trans & Non-Binary community NHS service users.
In the NHS Trans & Non-Binary community services support and communications/engagement themed Panel Discussion it was particularly clear that so much work has to be done on the NHS side to develop trust & confidence from the experiences our Trans & Non-Binary communities representatives shared — but with some hope in the highlighting of the still, to date, very small number of community engagement competent GPs and healthcare professionals, by some of the panellists. At strategic level on the NHS side, it was made clear that so much work remains to be done to establish substantial community-level credibility.
Unfortunately despite good wishes from the Dorset CCG CEO and Dorset Healthcare CEO, for the festival, both their organisations chose, despite the clear request made to them by the Network, to NOT provide any representatives in lieu of the two CEOs mentioned not being able to attend due to prior commitments. The Panel Discussion achieved major results on experiences sharing, and on direct to the NHS, guidance of how and where its organisations and services can become more Trans & Non-Binary communities engagement and communications competent, and on where services could be valuably reviewed and improved at strategic general levels by working directly at substantial level with our commununity.
The Network, the Lighthouse, and Camden People’s Theatre wish to record great appreciation to Panellists, Jay and Anna of Communi-T, and Charity (a Space Youth Project, not Network volunteer) and to Kate, and also to special guests, Dan (Communi-T co-lead), Louise ((Bourne Free Chair, and Chair of AFC Bournemouth Proud Cherries LGBT supporters), and to Jonai (Chair of the Pan-Dorset NHS LGBT Staff Network — honourably representing NHS LGBT staff in lieu of any other NHS representation [please see above] which was requested but wonting on this very important occasion).