Silver Rainbow is CAGS' service for older gay people: we currently have a twice-monthly lunch club for gay and lesbian people over 50, and we're working with Age Concern Croydon to increase the range of services for older LGBT people in the Borough.
IDAHO
IDAHO (the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia) is held every year on the 17th of May. See the Croydon IDAHO site for details of this year's activities.
LGBT History Month
LGBT History Month
is celebrated nationwide every year in February. CAGS is proud to be among the
organisers of LGBT History Month 2010 in Croydon.
In particular, CAGS arranged for the Deputy Mayor of Croydon to attend a wreath-laying at Croydon War Memorial on Friday 6th February, in honour of Alan Turing.
For the full details of this year's LGBT programme of LGBT History Month events for 2010, and a summary of events in previous years, see www.croydonlgbtnetwork.org.uk/historymonth.htm.
CAGS and the Community
CAGS supports Aurora, Croydon's LGBT Police Consultation Group, and is a member of:
- SLAGO — the Surrey and London Association of Gay Organisations
- the Consortium of LGBT Voluntary & Community Organisations.
- CHE — The Campaign for Homosexual Equality.
- CVA — Croydon Voluntary Action.
- ILGA — the International Lesbian & Gay Association.
For details of other LGBT Groups in Croydon, see LGBT Croydon.
CAGS supports Crocus, Croydon's LGBT Network.
Downloads
- new CAGS leaflet (pdf: 613k)
- Sample Newsletter (pdf: 450k — a fairly recent copy, with some names and phone numbers blanked out. To receive a full copy you will need to join the Society).
- Membership Application form (pdf: 251k)
- a recent flyer announcing future Brief Encounter events and other local groups (pdf: 168k)
CAGS is promoting a series of open meetings with interesting and entertaining speakers, under the name "The Brief Encounter". The events are free and open to all, and are being held on the first Tuesday of alternate months at The Brief, 48 George St, Croydon CR0 1PD. Our most recent speaker, on the 3rd of August, was Paul Burston, gay novelist and columnist.
Recent meetings included a Hustings meeting when representatives of the local political parties came to answer questions about their policies in advance of the General Election, and an inspiring talk on gay health matters by Dr Justin Varney.
Past speakers include Peter Tatchell, long-term human rights
campaigner (left) 
Brian Paddick, former senior police officer and
candidate for Mayor of London (right), and Mark Bunyan, veteran
gay entertainer.
Tennis
We have a very active Tennis Group, playing on Sundays throughout the year.
Special events
As well as our social events, we put on events from time to time for a wider audience.
We had a stall at Brighton Pride in August 2008, and in November we took part in Expo100 and the South Norwood Winter Festival.
For 2009 we had a stall at London Pride and the Croydon Summer Festival.
CAGS in the News
Recent press coverage has included items about our "Brief Encounter" series of talks. You may also have seen an interview with our Secretary in the Pink Paper, reports of our play reading at the Warehouse Theatre for LGBT History month in February last year, and our dramatic increase in membership numbers. Our news page has full details, plus links to the text of our press releases.
Campaigning
We campaigned for the passing of the Civil Partnership Act by re-enacting ancient church same-sex union ceremonies.
We have organised letter-writing by our members on various issues affecting gay people, and we are currently working on a number of campaigning issues. More about our campaigns ...
LGBT Croydon
For an up-to-date list of coming events in and around Croydon, see the Croydon page of the LGBT London website – www.lgbtlondon.com/borough/croydon.
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Social events
Our social diary normally contains at least two social events a month, for instance coffee evenings, wine and cheese parties, music evenings, and restaurant visits - see the current programme, and also notes on past events ...