Rainbow wreaths prove a hit as LGBT social group hosts first activity class
A social group has brought a touch of colour to a shopping centre as it hosted its first face-to-face activity class since Covid-19 restrictions were lifted.
LGBT+ Sparkle group work in partnership with the Leonard Cheshire charity to put on the sessions, which take place at the Mander Centre Community Hub in Wolverhampton.
Members have been learning how to make rainbow wreaths with the help of Jane James, who runs the workshops, on Friday mornings between 10am and noon.
Paul Ryder and Marcus Cotterill, founders of LGBT+ Sparkle, started their social group after a previous LGBT+ community hub was closed about eight years ago.
Mr Ryder said the aim of the event was to "bring people together" to "make new friends" and everyone is welcome to join in and participate in the wreath-making.
"The reason we set this [social group] up 17 months ago is because there was a massive gap for the LGBT community in Wolverhampton and surrounding areas," Paul added.
Kathryn O' Connor, documentary artist and author, said that the event had created an LGBT centre based in town for people to come together.
Sessions are taught by Jane James who was previously the Lifelong Learning Development Officer at the Bantock House Museum in Wolverhampton from 2002 to 2013.
The 64-year-old, a part-time manager at The Life Charity Shop, said: "Paul and Marcus are regular customers at the charity shop and I showed them a wreath that I had made for my front door.
"They asked if I would teach them how to make them and we decided to set up the series of sessions.
"I will wait to see how things go before deciding whether to do more classes but am limited to ten people per session at the moment.
"There could be the possibility of doing more sessions as my background was in organising and working with community groups.
"I enjoyed taking the class and I think that I would be very happy to do more sessions."
Many of the members taking part said that they enjoyed the event, with participant Kay describing what she enjoyed about it.
She said: "I feel like it's good for the LGBT community as we get to meet new people who are also LGBT.
"It's good to be able to do this because there hasn't been much going on in the city, so I feel this is good for LGBT people."
The group organised online quizzes and virtual meetings during the pandemic. They still run on Thursdays from 2pm to 3.30pm on Zoom.
Funding for the classes was received through the Leonard Cheshire charity, who support disabled people to claim their rights, access quality learning and work, and live as they choose.
