TAUNTON GAY GROUP - PAST EVENTS, OLD NEWS AND GALLERY
PAST EVENTS:
Fri 16/02/2024 | PLOUGH | 7.30-11.00pm | Pub Social Meet-Up at the Plough Inn, Station Road, Taunton. Sat 20/01/2024 | GWH | 1pm-3.30pm | Afternoon/Coffee LGBTQ+ meet-up (The Lounge at GWH). Fri 08/12/2023 | PLOUGH | TGG Pub Social Meet-Up at the Plough Inn Sat 18/11/2023 | Afternoon/Coffee LGBTQ+ meet-up | GWH (The Lounge) Sat 28/10/2023 | TGG DOES HALLOWEEN AT THE PLOUGH with music from HOUSE OF FUNK. Tues 03/10/2023 | Evening 'Tuesgay' Pub Social at HIDEOUT (Castle Green). Sat 16/09/2023 | TGG held a community stall at Taunton Pride 2023 Vivary Park. Visit tauntonpride.co.uk Sat 02/09/2023 | Afternoon/Coffee LGBTQ+ meet-up | GWH (The Lounge) Sat 12/08/2023 | Lunch/Afternoon Pub Social Meet at THE HIDEOUT (replaced planned picnic due to weather) 17-21/07/2023 | TGG helped curate 'Pride Cinema Week' at Taunton's Brewhouse Theatre, with showings of Rent, Desert Hearts, Joyland and Bros. Weds 19/07/2023 | TGG Pub Social Meet-Up at the Plough Tues 16/05/2023 | 7-10pm Evening Pub Social | HIDEOUT Sat 29/04/2023 | Afternoon/Coffee LGBTQ+ meet-up | GWH (The Lounge) Sat 08/04/2023 | TGG's 5th Birthday Evening Pub Social - 'Back to the Plough' | The Plough Inn with Jig & Thonic DJs Fri 24/03/2023 | Evening Pub Social | HIDEOUT Sat 11/03/2023 | Afternoon/Coffee LGBTQ+ meet-up | GWH (The Lounge) Sat 04/02/2023 | Afternoon/Coffee LGBTQ+ meet-up | GWH (The Lounge) Sat 14/01/2023 | TGG goes to Computer World 80s Club Night | The Lawns Tues 13/12/2022 | Evening Pub Social | HIDEOUT. Sat 26/11/2022 | Afternoon LGBTQ+ meet-up | HIDEOUT Sat 29/10/2022 | 8pm til late - TGG does Halloween at the Hideout! With prize raffle to support TGG | HIDEOUT. Tues 18/10/2022 | 7-9pm Evening Pub Social | HIDEOUT. Sat 17/09/2022 | Afternoon meet-up | GWH (The Lounge). Tues 23/08/2022 | Evening Pub Social | HIDEOUT Sat 13/08/2022 | TGG and 2BU Post Pride Picnic We had a scorching but fantastic afternoon bringing TGG'ers and 2bU members and staff together for a lovely picnic in Taunton's Vivary Park. We'll definitely repeat this and hopefully some other events that bring young LGBTQ+ people and adults in the community together as ourselves in a safe environment. Sat 16/07/2022 | TGG took part in Taunton Pride 2022 march/parade and met the community at an awareness stall in Vivary Park. Stephen also gave a speech ahead of the march. Sat 09/07/2022 | TGG Lunchtime LGBTQ+ meet-up at GWH Sat 16/06/2022 | Evening Pub Social | Hideout Sat 14/05/2022 | TGG does Exeter Pride. By rail to the pride march and festival. Sat 02/04/2022 | TGG Lunchtime LGBTQ+ meet-up at GWH (TGG's 4th birthday - thanks for all the kind words and donations x) Sat 05/03/2022 | Evening Pub Social | PLOUGH. Sat 05/02/2022 | TGG Lunchtime LGBTQ+ meet-up at GWH Sat 20/11/2021 | TGG Lunchtime Meet-Up at GWH Sat 30/10/2021 | Black Horse Halloween Night Sat 09/10/2021 | TGG Lunchtime Meet-Up at GWH Sat 18/09/2021 | TGG Lunchtime Meet-Up at GWH Sat 21/08/2021 | TGG does Yeovil Pride Sat 07/08/2021 | TGG Afternoon LGBTQ+ Social Meet-Up - Great Western Hotel (Lounge) - replacing picnic as postponed to due poor weather Sat 17/07/2021 12-5 | TGG at Taunton Pride 2021 (awareness stall) Sat 22/05/2021 and 19/06/2021 - 12-3pm | TGG Afternoon LGBTQ+ Social Meet-Up - Great Western Hotel (Lounge garden) Sat 21/11/2020 7.30pm | TGG Keep in Touch Zoom and Mini Music Quiz Sat 03/10/2020 7.30pm | TGG Quiz Night via Google Meets Sat 12/09/2020 2pm | Afternoon social meet-up (coffee/bar) | The Lounge GWH - held during short lived easing of lockdown restrictions Sat 13/06/2020 | TGG Pub Quiz Night via Zoom Fri 05/06/2020 | Q ART Exhibition - Held online via Zoom Sat 04/04/2020 | Taunton Gay Group (TGG) 2nd Birthday Online Lockdown Party - held via Zoom featuring live music from Dave Not the Cat Sat 07/03/2020: TGG Feels like dancing! Retro Bar Meet-Up Wow what a night! Definitely a TGG record for this one as around 50 people meet up in the Perkin Warbeck for pre drinks, and then headed for a wonderful night at Retro Bar where we danced and laughed the night away! Particularly good show from the Somerset Lesbian Network and other groups where the word had clearly spread! Lovely to meet so many new faces and we'll definitely repeat this as clearly we have some keen dancers! Some pictures of the night can be found over at the Retro Bar Facebook page. Sat 08/02/2020: TGG Pub Social #17 A great kick off to our pub socials for 2020, we had a good turn out and as usual, new faces coming along for the first time and filled up the basement room. Usual fun night of chat and a good few drinks too! 25/01/2020: Lunch/Coffee Meet Up - Great Western Hotel Having popped into the newly refurbished GWH a couple of times we chatted to the staff about TGG, and they were really keen for us to try it out for one of our socials, and we were impressed by the venue and welcoming staff. So we set up our first social of 2020 and it was fantastic! The lounge bar is lovely and quiet at the weekends, so we had plenty of space to spread out, with around 15 people attending including 4 new people, one all the way from East Devon! We also had a great opportunity to chat with Jenny from GoCreate so we could gather some plans and pace for the forthcoming Taunton Pride 2020, along with our friends at the Somerset Lesbian Network. So I think we've found our new lunch meet location! The food was nice, great service and they even laid on some complimentary shortbread! Yum. 7/12/2019: TGG Pub Social #17 16/11/2019: TGG Pub Social #16 21/10/2019: Quiz Night at the Cricketers 28/09/2019: Lunch/Coffee Meet Up - Perkin Warbeck A busy day at the Perkin but luckily the sun came out for the afternoon so we headed for the roof terrace and enjoyed a great catch up. Lots to talk about with the recent Taunton Pride 2020 plans announced! 30/08/2019: TGG Pub Social #14 A good turnout for our 14th pub social, with three new people joining us from Taunton and Bridgwater. 03/08/2019: TGG Does Taunton Flower Show On a scorching but occasionally showery day, we had a fun day wandering the flower show and enjoying the days events including BMX stunt riders and dog agility show. A few beers, ice cream and of course a few plants were bought. A TGG newbie all the way from Barnstaple area in North Devon joined us and enjoyed making new friends. Thanks also Avon & Somerset Police for looking after my hat, which I left on their stand whilst trying on the 'what it's like on drink and drugs goggles'! Our best wishes to PCSO Sam Bushen who not long after this show, was involved in a serious attack on him whilst on duty, we hope you are making a good recovery. 20/07/2019: TGG Lunch/Coffee Meet Up - Perkin Warbeck One of our best daytime events yet (in my opinion) with around 20 of us including a lot of newbies - perfect mix from across our community, all ages, genders etc on a beautifully sunny day out on the roof terrace. Folk from Taunton, Yeovil, Tiverton, Glastonbury which shows how needed the group is. The event was only arranged until 2.30 but some of us were out until 7pm - nuff said! 06/07/2019: TGG Pub Social #13 A fun evening as usual at the Plough which coincided with a certain birthday! Thanks Wendy for the lovely photo from our Exeter Pride trip, and the Bethan & Ali for the fable bottle lights which gave us ambient mood lighting down in the basement! Thanks to all who came along. 14/06/2019: TGG Pub Social #12 24/05/2019: TGG Pub Social #11 Two great early summer pub socials and more newbies coming along all the way from Yeovil. I think this shows how little there is across Somerset that people are happy to travel a fair distance to Taunton, and we're very happy to welcome them. 11/05/2019: TGG Does Exeter Pride Well this was a marked improvement on our attempt to gather people to Bristol last year! A good 10 of us met up at Taunton station and travelled down to Exeter Pride 2019, also picking up a few new faces on route and others down at Northernhay gardens. We had such a fun day taking part in the march, enjoying the park and the street party in Gandy Street. A day of sunshine, lots of laughs, one or two drinks(!), and, ahem, a bucking broncho! A few of us carried on back at Taunton in the evening at our local the Plough. A great day - thanks so much to all who made it such a laugh, and the pride organisers for a safe, proud and entertaining day. 27/04/2019 - TGG 1st Birthday Party Pub Social! We had a great celebration of 1 year since TGG's first event on Saturday 27th April at the Plough Inn. The pub let us do a kind of 'TGG takeover' and we're extremely grateful for their support, for laying some buffet food on for us and reserving the main seating area which we decorated up with LGBT+ flags. We had a great turn out, and enjoyed live music from Stevie & The Masquerades and the Idle Silence who both gave us a 'big up' on their social media posts. Idle Silence were pretty loud for some of us, so a bit later we did bunker down in the downstairs seating! Aside from the bands we had a TGG playlist over the pub sound system, mixed by TGG friend Peter Routley. Thank you Peter, and thanks to all who made it a memorable night. Pics are in the gallery. 20/04/2019 TGG Lunchtime Coffee Meet Up A slight mishap, in that we had planned to be at the Creative Innovation Centre CIC, but arrived to find unexpectedly they didn't open (clearly decided no-one needs coffee on an easter weekend)! So a merry band of us made a rapid contingency plan and headed for the Perkin Warbeck. It was a gloriously hot day so we had a nice few hours sat out on the roof terrace. In fact it was so nice we think we'll head there for future lunch/coffee meets as it gives more variety for people and it's cheap! Welcome to newbie Jack, and thanks so much Alan for the birthday card and donation. 15/03/2019: TGG Pub Social #10 Another great night, this time having to take over the upstairs lounge as a birthday party was booked in our usual spot (booo!). But another busy one and very happy to be joined by some friends from LGBT Number 3 in Tiverton (Devon). Great to catch up with these lads and also welcome another newbie all the way from Yeovil. All are very welcome from anywhere in Somerset or surrounding counties and we're quite humbled when people travel so far to join our merry band. 23/02/2019: TGG Pub Social #9 After a January sabbatical we returned to the Plough with a bang! This was by far our busiest social yet with at least 25 of us, literally squeezing in to the basement of the Plough. As ever we had both regular and new faces and a fantastic night of socialising was had. We'll have to take over the whole pub at this rate! 02/02/2019: Outing the Past - LGBT History Month TGG took part in this great event organised by Taunton Library. We met many people during the day and was overwhelmingly positive - but not without some controversy... the Drag Queen Storytelling element drew some very extreme views out of the woodwork online, and a well known preacher who seems to go out of the way to spread his messages of hate against members of the public, was in attendance outside the library. It's a shame these few decide to shout rather than engage and learn, but it just showed why the event was so necessary and long overdue. Some fascinating speakers and we even got an interview on Cheryl Morgan's radio show. 19/01/2019 TGG Lunchtime Coffee Meet Up - CIC Taunton Our first official 'Coffee Meet-Up' went really well, with about ten of us enjoying a catch up with past TGG visitors and two newcomers, one from all the way over in Tiverton! I think we all found the Creative Innovation Centre, a comfy and relaxing space for this so will definitely repeat. 21/12/2018: TGG Pub Social #8 - The Plough Inn Our last pub social of 2018 was a belter, with various people from across the year joining in the fun, with a dazzling array of Christmas jumpers! We got busier as the night went on and the Plough staff Kindly helped us add more tables until we basically had the whole of the downstairs to cater for us all. 23/11/2018: TGG Pub Social#7 - The Plough Inn Great fun night with another new couple and single joining us, plus some old friends, so lovely mix of catching up and getting to know people. If we get everyone who's been this year together at once it'll be a fine party! 26/10/2018: TGG Pub Social#6 - The Plough Inn Massive thanks to Azzy who stepped in at the last minute to host this one due to house moving! New couple along again - as we've had at almost every event with new singles/couples meeting up. 22/09/2018: TGG Pub Social#5 - The Plough Inn Lots of new faces at this one and a plenty of laughter! For the first time the girls outnumbered the guys and it was great to see a group come together that was a real mix across the LGBTQ+ spectrum and this made me very happy, that we're coming together, sharing laughter, experiences and friendship no matter how we all identify or how we don't. Fab time. 17/08/2018: TGG Pub Social #4 - The Plough Inn We had a great 4th pub social and our busiest yet, into double figures and including five newcomers along which was really positive. We have a healthy core group but it's very satisfying when new friends come out, particularly those on their own, as this is what the group is about - bringing people together to socialise and have fun! 05/08/2018: TGG goes quizzing! The Perkin Warbeck (Wetherspoons on East Street) now has Sunday night interactive quiz nights, no pens or paper required or faffing about adding up, just a remote control. Team TGG did surprisingly well coming 2nd out of about 8 teams who took part - we even managed to get a sport question right! Thanks to Joycelin and Azzy for coming along - this may be a regular event we join. 14/07/2018: TGG does Bristol Pride! A small but merry contingent from Taunton got together for the annual Bristol Pride parade and festival. With some of us travelling up on the Falcon coach and others meeting in Castle Park or joining along the parade route, we had a fantastic and very hot sunny day, enjoying the music, the atmosphere and maybe one or two drinks! Bands on stage included Snap!, Alexandra Burke and Republica. Next year will look to join some of the other festivals - possibly Weston-Super-Mare and Exeter, Plymouth also a potential trip. 22/06/2018: TGG Pub Social #3 - The Plough Inn Our third pub social was back at the cosy Plough Inn. Great to welcome newbie Azzy along and a few regulars. 25/05/2018: TGG Pub Social #2 - The Perkin Warbeck Our second pub social moved to the larger of Taunton's Wetherspoons, different vibe but a good evening of chat and giggles was had. Good to see people from outlying areas making the trip to the county town to meet others, as this shows that people are keen to feel less isolated. 27/04/2018: TGG Pub Social #1 - The Plough Inn Our first informal pub social meet up took place at the Plough in Taunton. We were pleased to have a small but merry band of ten people come along, including some who live in more rural areas and made the trip in. This is great, as shows there is a need for people to connect not just in the county town itself but outlying areas, where there is less opportunity to meet with other like minded folk. A disco band played that night (The Man From Funkle) so it was a good atmosphere, but as we bagged the downstairs seating area early it wasn't too loud for us to have a good chat and get to know each other. Thank you: Sy, Rob, Peter, Lindsay, Alan, Pete, Ben, Frank and Steven for supporting our first meet up! |
GALLERY:
During the Covid-19 Pandemic we have held some 'virtual' events via our social media channels. Please click below to enjoy a specially dedicated live acoustic set from Dave Not the Cat, in celebration of TGG's second birthday on 4th April 2020
PAST NEWS:
14 December 2022 - A little shade... Thank you to everyone who braved a very chilly night to come out to our Tuesgay meet up last night, and thanks to all who’ve joined our social events throughout 2022 for making it full of fun and new friendships. April 2023 will mark 5 years of our group, and despite the pandemic curveball we’ve kept going and growing. I just need to reiterate something to any new folk who come along, so please bear with me…. whilst talking about ‘LGBTQ+’ issues can provide a learning opportunity, I don’t expect anyone in our inclusive and diverse group to a) be asked upfront and in yer face to state what part of the LGBTQ+ umbrella they are; b) be put in a position of needing to defend or challenge views that align with transphobia, biphobia or are dismissive of any other identities/characteristics within ‘our family’. There is enough of this online to deal with and in day to day life, and our group is about escaping from that in a safe place, socialising, having fun and being respectful of each other. People may well be happy to volunteer information about themselves and share experiences once relationships and friendships are formed, but it shouldn’t be anyone’s ‘need to know’ about gender, sexual orientation or otherwise. If you have those views that is of course your right, but to be explicit, you’ll be playing a real downer so please don’t come to TGG and express them! I’ve worked really hard to make TGG as welcoming as possible and we’ve been lucky to very rarely have any issues reported of people being made to feel uncomfortable by other punters, so whilst I know many of us are up to the challenge when presented, we can do without it ta. The + and the T are as important as the B, the L or the G and if you don’t believe that then I’d rather you don’t share a table with us and the people who you don’t believe exist. TGG’s world is round . Nuff said x Stephen. https://tauntongaygroup.weebly.com/tgg-guidelines.html 31 October 2022 - Halloween Thank Yous Well we had lotsa fun at Hideout Taunton on Sat for Halloween! Thank you to everyone who bought raffle tickets which raised TGG an amazing £130! Congrats to the prize winners. As you know we keep everything free and don't ask for much, but we do need some funds for things like keeping the flyers out there to reach more people with our group, so without any regular funding this is a massive help. BIG THANKS to Jenny and Taunton Live & Pride for prizes, to Laura and all the team at Hideout Taunton for kindly hosting the raffle and additional prizes inc. generous Greene King voucher, and to the fabulous Valerie VonHussle for 'doing the draw' and putting on such a great show for us all! Really appreciate all the support x Stephen 14 July 2022 - Ready for Pride! Team TGG have been busy behind the scenes plotting our stall in Vivary Park at Taunton Pride Sat 16th July! A merry band of TGG'ers will be on hand to chat to anyone about our group, we'll have a few freebies (pens, badges, stickers, sweets) but as we don't have regular revenue streams we'll be most grateful for any donations! We will of course have leaflets and cards to take away, and our aim is to simply reach people that haven't found out about us yet, or people that maybe aren't on social media. Please come and say hi or just have a sit down and a chill under our gazebo to escape the expected rays! Please take care, water, sun cream, hats, and please note due to the extreme heat forecast Taunton Pride have banned dogs from the site, expect for assistance dogs for their own health. We will also be in the march and you may hear from TGG in the opening speeches before we set off. I hope as many of you as possible have managed to get free tickets/wristbands - it's very unfortunate these have been needed for both the parade and park, but there have been lots of exceptional demands by the local authority, nothing that we've ever experienced at much larger pride events in the region, and the organisers have had to navigate these barriers as best they can. Please be kind to the Taunton Live and Pride organisers on the day, it's been very hard work for all involved to get to this point. 12 June 2022 - Evening Pub Socials moving the HIDEOUT Please note from our evening event 17/6/22 onwards, we plan to hold all future evening pub socials at Hideout. This is following some consultation in our community facebook discussion group and conversations recently with TGG attendees. A key reason is to address issues of disability access, which has proved a barrier at our former regular venue the Plough and has long been an uncomfortable balance to consider, as well as capacity as our group has grown in attendance. Hideout have been actively aiming to become known as an LGBTQ+ friendly pub in the town, with its recently launched weekly LGBTQ+ day every Tuesday, and we feel it offers the right space, with the right attitude and staff support. We'd like to thank the Plough for all it's support and some fantastic nights over the last 4 years, and we'll certainly continue to visit on an individual basis. We hope the move will be welcomed by those who've found barriers of accessibility for previous events and look forward to enjoying more great nights out in our new home. It'll be a little 'suck it and see' but hope to see you at Hideout this Friday 17th June - DJ Sam will be spinning some tunes too so dancing may be on the cards! 5 April 2022 - In the news again... https://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/20044188.taunton-gay-group-mark-anniversary-live-pride/ 2 April 2022 - TGG's 4th birthday and lot's coming up... Our group has been running for an amazing 4 years when we have our next lunch meet up at the GWH. I'd like to thank everyone that has supported us, and for all the new friendships made. We've seen Taunton's first pride in 2021 despite the pandemic, the rainbow pathway lighting the way in Goodlands Gardens, and 2022 sees a bigger and better Taunton Live & Pride event announced for 16th July, with parade and events in Vivary Park all taking shape (free ticket registration launching very soon). TGG will be there again (hopefully me too and not at home with Covid this time!) and with this in mind, I'm looking for volunteers from our regulars to help out, and also any donations gratefully received towards some bits and pieces we need for our stall - anything will help so will have a tin at the ready on the 2nd April, but only if you can and would like to. There are some other exciting things being cooked up in the town for our community, and hope to bring more news on this very soon! In the meantime thanks for the last 4 years, and making TGG worth all the effort. x Stephen 28 February 2022 - Taunton Live & Pride 2022 is revealed! Following Taunton's first Pride, held in reduced format for the first time during pandemic restrictions in 2021, the date for 2022 has been announced as Saturday 16th July. The event will be part of the Taunton Live and Pride festival, a partnership between GoCreate and a new Taunton Pride Community Interest Company (CiC). TGG has been involved in the initial committee meetings to help develop the continuing event and we're very pleased Pride will be back bigger and better. More details will be announced of the event plan and related events in the run up to July. 22 December 2021 - A short break and back in Feb 22 Hi all, apologies for a recent dip in posting any news or events. Some increased pressures in both my working life within part of the NHS and also personal events are conspiring to impact my capacity to a) arrange events at this time b) be as responsive as I would normally be for things in TGG world. Added to and entwined in this, is the speed of increasing cases of latest Covid variant, and the considerations around social contact in enclosed spaces, possible increases to restrictions etc. With this in mind, we’re going to take a short break and plan to start scheduling social meet ups again from early February 22. I’m sorry if this is disappointing, particularly for those have only recently started coming along, but will give both myself and Omicron some space to get through this period. Hope you understand and apologies for stepping us back at this time. Thank you for everyone’s support this year, in particular Azzy, Ben and Alan who stepped in at very short notice to run TGG’s stall at Taunton Pride in July when I caught Covid. Thank you to Jenny and Liz at GoCreate for organising Pride as part of Taunton Live this year and for supporting the journey towards making Taunton Pride 2022 happen (committee shaping up and work in progress). Thank you to all our regulars at TGG events for coming along, and to all the new friends we have met this year. We’ve had great fun and it’s been a blast getting to know each other - our Saturday afternoon social meets have often turned into fun evenings! Have a great festive season and hope 2022 brings easier times and lots of whatever brings you happiness. Stay as safe and well as possible x Stephen, TGG. P.S In the meantime please do use the TGG community discussion private group on Facebook if you want to post things and keep in touch, nothing stopping anyone saying ‘I’m up the pub tonight anyone want to join me?’ in there if you’d like to do your own thing. If you’re not already a member of that group please request to join, but respond to all joining questions & group rules when you do please (we get a lot of overseas/spoof profile looking requests that I have to try and filter out and I can’t always view profiles when in doubt, so they are there to try and keep it a safe space). 22 October - Taunton Pride 2022 Pride Working Group Meeting - 7pm at the Company Spaces on 1st November 2021 Taunton Pride 2022 - Can you please help? A small working group has met to start looking at what might be needed to make Taunton Pride 2022 a reality, after the amazing job GoCreate did this year in very challenging circumstances. If you want to see it happen again next year (and beyond) you can both help shape and/or practically support it to happen. The group would like to a) know what matters most so we can try and achieve the most important elements b) how you, the community could help in practical ways to bring the event to life. Please could you spare a couple of minutes to complete this survey by 31 October, so we can gather information to move forward at the next meeting on 1st November (to which anyone keen to get involved is welcome). Thank you for your help. Please click here to complete the survey 14 October - Taunton Pride 2022 Pride Working Group Meeting - 6.30pm at the Black Horse pub. A committee meeting is taking place on Thursday 14th October to start ideas/planning for Taunton Pride 2022. This will take place 6.30pm in the skittle alley at Black Horse Pub in Taunton. If you'd like to get involved in attending and/or helping to shape Taunton Pride, please email [email protected] or message the organisers via their Facebook or Twitter pages. 3 August 2021 **PICNIC 7th AUG POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER FORECAST** Apologies but due to a forecast for potentially heavy rain we will postpone this event due to be on Sat 7th August and look to hold during September if we get a good weekend forecast. Sorry for inconvenience. Instead we are holding a usual lunchtime meet up at the Great Western Hotel from 12.30pm. 13 July 2021 - A personal message from TGGs founder... Sadly Stephen can't now be at Taunton's first ever Pride on Sat 17th July (but fear not, the show will go on for TGG!). For more on why please see following blog post: tauntongaygroup.weebly.com/blogs/a-personal-message-re-taunton-pride-sat-17th-july-from-tgg-founder-stephen 8 July 2021 - Grants, rainbows and Pride! June has been a super busy month, with 3 bits of great news! First of all we are really grateful at TGG to have been awarded a small (but not to us) grant from Somerset Community Foundation to help us re-start our group post-covid. This funding is the first funding we have ever had and will be used for promotional materials to raise awareness at Taunton Pride, in local spaces and future events where we can have a presence, the primary aim being to reach more LGBTQ+ people who feel isolated, reach those who are not online and ensure as many people as possible know we are here as a way to make friends and build social support. Thank you so much to the foundation for their belief and encouragement, to GoCreate/Taunton Pride for their support in the process. This will make a huge difference and we are frantically getting things ready for PRIDE on the 17th July (more on this in a moment). The second amazing thing was the arrival of our wonderful rainbow pathway in Goodlands Gardens, which has been noticed worldwide and bringing happiness to many LGBTQ+ people, to kids and to our local businesses as a result of increased footfall to the town, yes, just to see this path. Again, all this is down to Jenny and Liz of GoCreate who are not just making Taunton Pride happen, but putting Taunton on the map as making positive change. Inevitably, the publicity also brought negative views - people are entitled to not like the aesthetics or the spend, there is no place for homophobia and transphobia but #LoveWinsInTaunton. Come and see it. Last but not least, the wonderful news that Taunton Live and Pride can go ahead on Sat 17th July. It's been a rollercoaster for the organisers to say the least, and the event has had to change to ticketed events across Goodlands Gardens and other local venues such as CICCIC, Mambo and Brewhouse. Sadly the parade and march was not allowed to go ahead but with so many Prides being cancelled we are thrilled it is happening in whatever form and will be a great day of awareness raising, entertainment and arts. We look forward to seeing people on our awareness stall and hope as many of you as possible can make it to the day's events. This is just a start of making Taunton a more accepting and inclusive place and a chance for LGBTQ+ people in the community and allies to really show it as great place to live and work, for everyone. x Stephen 21 May - Update re GWH meet-up Sat 22/5 Hi, just a quick update re our first meet-up of 2021 this Sat 22nd May... firstly the weather looks forecast to be dry tomorrow afternoon, so we plan to go ahead, and base ourselves in the garden outside the Lounge at Great Western Hotel 12-3pm. What I can't promise is how cold it will feel so suggest you come prepared! The reason we are meeting outside is that under current Covid rules you can have up to 30 people permitted as one group outside, which means we are able to 'mingle' if people want to (respecting people's space/wishes etc) and it is recommended to be outside if possible. The tables are quite spread out (see pic noting the wind has been blowing it about!) but on first come first served basis (and the hotel has its own guests to accommodate). If people want/need to be inside, or it suddenly rains etc, it is 6 maximum at a table and we can't just hop about between tables chatting as this doesn't meet the rules the venue has to comply with. Hope that makes sense, we managed like that at our last meet-up back in September and was lovely to all be in the same space at least. This really is a "let's give it a go", looking forward to seeing who comes along and hope you don't mind going with the flow, we need to respect anything the hotel asks us to do - but they are also really happy to see us back. Many thanks, Stephen. PS hope you still recognise me, I've ballooned! I will stick a rainbow flag somewhere near me so you know it's me x 02 May 2021 - We're coming back! The whole remit of TGG when we started the group just over 3 years ago, was to provide a ‘touch point’ to bringing LGBTQ+ people together in the area to socialise face to face, make new friends and have a laugh together. Online meetings have been essential to many of us since the pandemic began, but we definitely sensed some fatigue for this come Christmas, and certainly for me after long days on MS Teams in my day job, I’ve been craving to get away from the screen and the often negative tones of online life, so can’t wait for real interaction again. Our last proper meet up was Sep 2020, and I’m pleased to say after chatting with our friends at the Great Western Hotel that we’re ready to try and re-start again, commencing with Sat 22nd May 12-3pm, which will be outside in the Lounge garden. Can’t wait to get back together with TGG’ers past and hopefully some new faces too! After these when all being well restrictions will be lifted further, we’ll review what we do and seek a location for some evening and other events, and of course, focus on our plans for Taunton Pride on 17th July. 22/12/2020 - Happy Christmas and bring on 2021! It continues to be a tough time for us all, and I hope that you are keeping as well as possible, physically and mentally. The main aim of TGG has always been to get people off their computers and making new friends, face to face, but as you know we've only managed 3 real events in 2020 - a pub social, our brilliant night out dancing at Retro Bar back in March and a coffee meet up in Sep. Just when we thought we could get going again, we were restricted just a few days later. We tried a few zoom calls, our birthday facebook live show was a hoot, and many thanks must go to Azzy for his brilliant fun quizzes. But we're sensing a bit of 'virtual fatigue' after the last one, and these things take planning and blocking of our own time on top of our day jobs (of which mine is on screen all day as it is), so unless we get a big show of demand we'll hold off for a bit now, and will see if more appetite after the new year for something. In the meantime I'm encouraging people to please share any other networks, groups or events that you know about that may be of interest and might help with wellbeing, over at our Facebook community discussion place/group or please tag us with anything on twitter or facebook. Thank you to everyone who has joined us this year for real or virtual events, please stay safe and well, and let's keep everything crossed that we get more control back of our lives as we move out of winter. Happy holidays! x Stephen PS. I know Spotify isn't great for various reasons, but here's one last alternative playlist for an alternative year... TGGs Alternative Christmas Playlist 19/11/2020 - Keep in touch Due to the further restrictions in place on meeting in groups and upon public venues, face to face events are still suspended. We will continue to hold some virtual keep in touch socials, quizzes etc as time in our lives allows, but appreciate some people are getting online fatigue, so will only continue do these if there is demand. Please keep an eye on our social media feeds if possible as these tends to be updated more frequently. Tomorrow (20th Nov 2020) is Transgender Day of Remembrance, an opportunity to reflect and honour the loss of trans and gender-diverse people reported murdered across the world in the past 12 months. We stand with our trans and non-binary family this week, and every day. 10/09/2020 - Revised Covid guidance - 12 Sep meet going ahead Just when you think it's safe to get back in the water... We wanted to try to resume some face-to-face meet-ups and planned to hold a series of monthly afternoon coffee meets starting Sat 12th Sep at the Great Western Hotel. Following discussion with the hotel and authorities this one WILL go ahead, but in best interests of the group and venue, further dates are now postponed following updated government rules effective from 14/9. This limits groups to 6 people in pubs/restaurants etc, and states no socialising between those groups even if you know each other. Although the new rules apply from 14/9, which are to help stem a national increase in Covid cases, we ask you to please note the special information with thanks in advance. When rules are eased again we will try to put dates back in, but unsure if this will happen before end of 2020. 05/09/2020 - Resumption of some events! We are pleased to resume some face-to-face meet-ups starting from Saturday 12th September 2020! These will be held 2-4.30pm in The Lounge at the Great Western Hotel, Station Approach, Taunton TA1 1QW unless otherwise indicated. Visit the TGG Events Calendar for planned dates. Social distancing will be observed as per guidance from hotel. 26/08/2020 - Apologies 'real' events still on hold. No real/face-to-face social nights are currently likely to happen in remainder of 2020 to be honest, unless restrictions on 'party size' etc are lifted inside venues such as pubs. We are still considering other things like a picnic or walk weather depending, but we have to find an appropriate way of limiting numbers for such things and not putting ourselves or others at greater risk of illness or repercussions. We also need to re-evaluate the venues we meet at ongoing, as for example, our usual haunt the Plough Inn has changed management, and we had good allies that understood what we were trying to do and looked out for us, so we need to build that again if to return. Also it was a space that was proving almost too small for us sometimes. Combined with social distancing rules it feels this may have run it's course for us as much as we love the pub. I cannot thank Karina Cooper and her team enough for their past support, and Karina is opening a new pub of her own in Wellington which we hope will be a great success. We are planning more quiz nights or other socials via Zoom before end of the year, but please bear with us, and in mind, that we all have personal commitments, situations and jobs that impact our capacity to sort these things out! Please do keep an eye on the Taunton Pride social media, as there are many things you can engage with online, such as their 'Pride in Art' project which is aiming to work individually and as a group to produce banners and artwork in the lead up to Taunton Pride 2021. There is a possibility of a regular LGBTQ+ night happening in the town next year which could help us find a home again fingers crossed. As we speak, the Great Western Hotel has re-opened (home of our lunchtime meets) so I will talk to them soon about how we might be able to hold a socially distanced lunch time meet. 03/07/2020 - We're getting through this.... We won't I'm afraid be hosting any face-to-face social meets just yet. The pubs/venues need to settle themselves back in to a different world and at this time do not want groups of people trying to head out, space is limited for a few people from households which need to be pre-booked, so it's not really going to work for us yet and many people (myself included) don't want to push things when Covid-19 is still very much out there and systems are not robust in terms of track and trace, testing etc and the NHS is still under pressure. We know many of you are craving a 'real' social meet-up and behind the scenes with partners, we're starting to talk about 'something' outside for August that could be done with minimal risk, and we hope to bring some news on that soon. We'll also try to get in another zoom quiz/game soon. Please stick with us, we will get back together and when we do I particularly want to support venues like the Plough and Great Western Hotel who will have missed so much business, as much as we have missed them. Thanks for your understanding x Stephen 26/04/2020 - Remembering Lindsay I'm sorry to say that this morning we lost a beautiful member of our community, and a friend, Lindsay Pickering. Many of you will have met Lindsay if you attended any of the 'Out in Taunton' nights (Handsome Harry's/Winchester Arms) around 2016/17, which he instigated and brought so many of us together. I think It's fair to say, some nights Lindsay would be enjoying himself so much socialising and entertaining he'd forget it was his idea and leave Peter to do a lot of the grind! Without 'Out' it's unlikely I'd have gone on to start TGG. Lindsay was a caring, giving, loving gent with a wicked sense of humour. He was also a great advocate in speaking up for those who survived the peak of AIDS in the 80s and living with HIV today, and cared about wider LGBT+ issues. If you know/met Lindsay please remember him, talk about him and think of him. We send our condolences and love to his family and friends at this distressing time. Cheers to you Lindsay, I would say rest in peace but that would be really boring - party on wherever you are! 04/03/2020 - Taunton Pride new date and replay TGG's 2nd birthday live music special! Today was TGG's 2nd birthday! Can't believe it's come around so soon. A little idea has come a long way and thank you to all who have come along to our events and supported what we try to do. We're stronger when we come together. Obviously our planned birthday social meet had to be cancelled, but instead at short notice we pulled together an online lockdown party at our Facebook page, featuring live music stream courtesy of Dave Not the Cat and LGBT+ DJ 'watch party' beamed live from the Beefmince team (London's Royal Vauxhall Tavern DJs). Dave, pulled a great acoustic set together specially for us, and if you missed it you can replay it over at Dave Not the Cat's Facebook page. Don't miss a grown man trying to play Lady Ga Ga's Poker Face whilst being pelted with giant playing cards! Thank you Dave, and if you like it he has an EP available to download, plus he is a budding fiction writer and you can check out his published books out on Amazon (Dave Holwill). In other news, sadly Taunton Pride (like many others) has had to be postponed in the best interests of all. It is now planned for Saturday 17th July 2021. This gives more time for it to be bigger and better, and already artists and supporters are re-confirming their bookings and commitment to this much needed event. It also means we're not clashing with some other key events who also need support form the region, so this will be positive for all. Thank you Jenny at GoCreate for keeping in touch with developments. Stay well, stay in unless essential and we'll see you all when we can. In the meantime more online/virtual events are in the pipeline so please stay in touch via our social media channels if you can. x Stephen 11/03/2020 - Statement re cancellation of events due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak advice. I’d not wanted to cancel any TGG events if we could help it but here we are. Aside from anything else health wise, I fear for the businesses that may suffer such as our friends @theploughtaunton and @thegreatwesternhoteltaunton, but to actively try and encourage people to meet socially when clearly we are now being told to avoid doing so, would feel inappropriate. If a primary aim is to stop the NHS from imploding too soon, then it feels the sensible thing is to play our part and cancel at least our March and April events as it stands, then review again for May onwards. I hope you understand this decision. I want to thank so many lovely friends through TGG for your moral support. I’m glad our last event was such a BANGER!!!! So a few things to ask - if you see any good ‘online social events’ and I know a few are appearing such as online festivals, please feel free to share anything that will keep us entertained over at our TGG Facebook Page. Please feel free to chat and keep in touch with each other via our Facebook Community Discussion Group. If the Coronavirus news and direction is causing you anxiety or worries, please check our Support and Information links. For health advice go to nhs.uk as your first port of call for latest information. We hope you and yours all stay well, and you all create some good parties with your close ones at home! Get out that old bottle of whiskey from the back of the cupboard, crank up the stereo and dance in your kitchens! Stay fabulous and we’ll see you soon x Stephen 11/03/2020 - A note re the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak Whilst at present we're not yet making any decisions about cancelling any of our planned social meets in the coming weeks due to this emerging situation, if NHS/government advice dictates or we feel it is in best interests for ourselves or attendees to postpone dates, we'll let you know as soon as able. If they do go ahead, but you have pre-existing health issues or concerns, or fall into the more vulnerable 'bracket', you are best placed to make that decision about attending. Priority is everyone keeping well and safe as much as possible. Please visit https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/ for information and guidance, and if you are worried about your health please use NHS 111. Thank you. 02/02/2020 Looking forward to an exciting year! As we dive into LGBT+ History Month, we can also feel really excited about history in the making, as we build towards our town's first ever Pride on the 18th July! TGG have been chatting a lot with the organisers GoCreate, and plans and ideas are coming together to create an information tent at the festival. We're keen to try and reach as many people as we can about the wellbeing benefits of socialising, not only at TGG events, but other groups and networks in the area. With this in mind we've invited Somerset Lesbian Network to share this space if they would like, as we have a small marquee we can make available and would be great to work together. We already have really good links, as a number of people attend both TGG and SLN events, so together we can raise awareness and support each other. For TGG, what this does mean however, is we really need to get our hands on more promotional materials, to maximise our reach and be as visible as possible at the event. Pride gives us a perfect opportunity to ensure people know we are here, attract those who are 'offline' and the harder to reach groups. As most of you know we have so far been running without any funding and so anything you've seen before has been home created in small quantities, at personal cost. So behind the scenes our committee have identified a potential funding avenue and keeping our fingers crossed. Jenny at GoCreate (the Taunton Pride organisers) has also been very supportive, and they are working extremely hard to make this a fantastic event for the town and the LGBT+ community. They attended our most recent lunchtime TGG meet which was a great opportunity for people to get involved in the discussions. We can't wait! Please follow the Taunton Pride 2020 social media pages at Twitter and Facebook to keep up with all the latest plans and event details. Do message them if you want to get involved, either as a volunteer, artist/entertainer, stall holder, sponsor etc. 15/09/2019 Taunton Pride 2020 Lots of us at TGG and other local groups have chatted about how great it would be to have a pride event for Taunton and 2020 seems like it could be the year! We know it can be done as seen recently with impromptu events being held in Watchet and Yeovil. Now local arts group GoCreate Taunton have announced plans to help organise a Taunton Pride 2020 and have set up social media pages to get the dialogue going at Twitter and Facebook. Please follow the pages, get involved and WATCH THIS SPACE! 06/06/2019 TGG showed solidarity with Ken Macharia, after a call out from his rugby team the Bristol Bisons and friends, when he was due to check in at Bridgwater Police Station and was expected to be detained following the home office's decision to not grant him permanent asylum. Ken lives in the Glastonbury area and is seeking asylum as returning to Kenya, away from his friends and family, he could face a long jail term due to outdated laws on gay sex and/or persecution (his case is well known in the press). Thankfully Ken was not detained on this occasion but the fight goes on - please sign the petition to stop his deportation here. This received coverage from local, national and international press - you can see video with more on the story at the Independent website, and this heartfelt piece written by Ken himself at the Guardian. 01/02/2019 TGG will be represented at the Outing the Past LGBT History month event at Taunton Library Saturday 2nd Feb from 10.30am-4pm. The event has attracted some media attention, not entirely positive by a minority of individuals, but overwhelmingly supported by the public, and we hope lots of people will come along and engage with us and the days events. There are lots of positive things happening in the Taunton area in 2019, including gay friendly pub in Bishops Hull Taunton, pub gay night in Wellington, and a Somerset LGBTQ+ forum/partnership in the works, so it feels a really good time to be involved in our community. Stay fabulous! 06/12/2018 What an amazing year it's been! I really wasn't sure what would happen back in March when I first started putting TGG together and I'm so pleased that we're still here 9 months and 8 pub socials later (plus some other events). Almost every event we've had someone new come along (singles/couples), people from across the LGBTQ+ 'spectrum', and it's great that people have been making new friends and feeling less alone. Thanks to everyone who has come along, everyone who has helped spread the word or offered support. It means a lot and here's to more fun things in 2019 for us all. Have a great Christmas everyone and a happy new year! Stephen x 01/07/2018 A quick news round up - we've now had 3 successful pub socials (thanks to everyone who has supported these) and more will be planned soon, but with the busy summer period and other events it depends what can be fitted in with 'life'. But, we have our TGG outing to Bristol Pride on 14 July, plus a new quiz night at the Perkin on Sunday 5 August on the calendar. We're looking into opportunities for those who are hoping for daytime events such as coffee/lunch meets. We have also been asked to speak briefly at a consultation event about Somerset LGBT+ services which we'll be engaging with in September. A quick mention that the Out in Taunton night hosted by Joy/Queer Alternative at the Trinity Centre is cancelled in July but they'll be back on 1st Saturday of August. Cheers, Stephen. 28/04/2018 We're off! Our first TGG Pub Social was held Fri 27/4/18 at the Plough and a small but merry band of ten had a great night. Just added a new page to the website for 'past events' so we can keep track of what we've done and includes a photo gallery. Without haste, our next pub social is on 25th May and we'll be trying out The Perkin Warbeck (Wetherspoons) 24/04/2018 With just 2 more sleeps until our first Pub Social at the Plough Inn, we've heard there is a band playing on Friday called 'The Man from Funkle' who put on a bit of a 'carwash' style disco show, so suggest people come down early (nearer 7pm) as might get busy when they play later on. This of course means we may get the chance for a boogie on down as well as chat and meeting new friends! Hope to see you there. x Stephen 13/04/2018 Our latest events are now also listed on the TGG Facebook events listings so if you want to keep up to date on those, please visit, follow and register your interest or that you're going. This also really helps to encourage others to come along too! 04/04/2018 New TGG facebook page is now live at: www.facebook.com/tauntongaygroup/ 02/04/2018 TGG founder Stephen, and OUT in Taunton host Joycelin interviewed by Somerset Live Read the interview about two different experiences of coming out and how society has changed at Somerset Live... |