Intercom is now funded to support and maintain a community-led consultation group covering Dorset County, Bournemouth and Poole and dealing with community-safety-related issues that are of real concern to LGB and Trans people.

We are currently RECRUITING — LGB and Trans people are INVITED to apply to join the Group.

To find out more, do have a look at our special web-page here.

The first bit of good news is that nothing is changing in Cornwall, Plymouth, Devon and Torbay. Our Helpline and Advocacy Service continues to provide information, advocacy, help and support for individuals in need on account of homophobic or transphobic discrimination, prejudice, harassment and crime, and for LGBT people experiencing social isolation, mental health problems, difficulty in obtaining services on a level of equality, etc. The Helpline for this service is Freephone 0800 612 3010. (Or 01392 201018 if you prefer to call a landline).

However, we very much regret that the funding for our Advocacy service in Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole comes to an end on 31 March, and we shall have to say goodbye, with great sadness, to our Pan-Dorset Community Advocate Sue Robinson. We wish Sue all the best for her new job, and we thank her for all the good work she has done helping LGB and Trans people, and raising awareness of the issues, across Dorset Bournemouth and Poole.

This means that from 1 April we shall continue to welcome Helpline calls on our Pan-Dorset Helpline (01305 266642), but we shall not have a local worker in that area who is able to provide on-the-spot support and advocacy as a full-time job. We hope we shall be able to provide some degree of on-the-spot support and advocacy for individuals in need, but until we have found new funding and appointed a new full-time worker we can't promise. As everyone will realise, funding is appallingly tight at the moment, and fundraising is a greater challenge than ever.

However, the second bit of good news: we are able to offer an improved LGBT Helpline service in Dorset Bournemouth and Poole, thanks to our friends and colleagues who run the long-established Dorset Lesbian and Gay Helpline (DLGH). Following a carefully-planned amalgamation of the DLGH and the Intercom Trust, DLGH volunteers will continue to staff their evening Helpline once a week, on Mondays. During weekday daytimes, calls to that helpline will now be answered by Intercom's Help and Advocacy team instead of going to voicemail. The DLGH Helpline number is 0845 388 3544.

Our March 2012 Newsletter is now available for download on our Bulletins page. We'd be glad to hear what you think of the new design: email volunteers@intercomtrust.org.uk. All helpful thoughts gratefully received!

Intercom is a lesbian gay bisexual and trans community resource in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset, providing help against homophobic and transphobic prejudice, crime and discrimination (including bullying, harassment, abuse, attacks, and threatening behaviour), helping to develop the LGBT communities, providing professional training and consultancy, and working in partnership with local government, the police, health, etc.