Silver Rainbow Press Release: Croydon Gay Group voted third best in the country

13 February 2009

A Croydon group for older gay and lesbian people has been highly placed in a nationwide poll. Silver Rainbow came third in its category following votes by readers of the Pink Paper.

The Pink Paper Readers’ Awards are held annually, but this is the first time they have included a category for “Older LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender] Groups”. In two successive rounds of voting, Silver Rainbow first of all made the shortlist of five, and then achieved third place.

The full results were:

1. Out in the City, Manchester
2. Age Concern Camden Older Gay Men’s Group, London
3. Silver Rainbow, Croydon
4. 50+ Group, The Metro Centre, London
5. Older Lesbian Network, London.

Silver Rainbow has been in operation since February 2008. It’s affiliated to Croydon Area Gay Society (CAGS), and works in partnership with Age Concern Croydon. Currently Silver Rainbow provides a friendly lunch club for local gay and lesbian people over 55 years old. One of the two monthly events is held at the Waterside Centre, South Norwood (courtesy of UNACC – the Upper Norwood Association for Community Care); the other event is supported by Age Concern Croydon’s “Fit as a Fiddle” healthy eating programme, and has been held at various locations, including the Warehouse Theatre, the Croydon Clocktower Café, Coombe Lodge, The Brief in George Street, and Age Concern’s London Road offices.

Ross Burgess, one of the organisers of Silver Rainbow, said “We’re delighted to have got national recognition after being in existence for less than a year. Silver Rainbow is clearly making a difference to gay people’s lives, and we look forward to expanding the services we offer to older gay and lesbian people.”

More details about Silver Rainbow can be found on our website at www.silverrainbow.org.uk or by phoning 07594 572 623 and there’s a copy of our certificate at www.cags.org.uk/certificate.pdf. For the full results of the Pink Paper Readers’ Awards see http://news.pinkpaper.com/Feature.aspx?id=792. For more about Age Concern Croydon’s “Fit as a Fiddle” programme see www.ageconcerncroydon.org.uk/index.cfm?id=4846.

End

Silver Rainbow is a service from Croydon Area Gay Society, working in partnership with
Age UK Croydon.

For a list of other LGBT groups in Croydon, see LGBT Croydon.
For a directory of other LGBT groups and events around London, see LGBT London.