Work is currently underway to develop an ‘Age Friendly Communities’ Strategy for Galway City and County. This initiative is part of a national programme, which aims to create communities where all of us as we age, enjoy a good quality of life and continue to participate fully in the life of those communities – for further information visit www.afcireland.com.

A number of consultation events will take place to identify what the key issues are, and what should be included in the Strategy. One of these events will be a Focus Group around the needs and experiences of older LGBT people, which will be held on Saturday 14 April 2012 from 11am – 1pm in the offices of West Training and Development, Mayoralty House, Merchants Road, Galway. If you’re interested and would like to share your ideas, please stop by. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me anytime on Tel. 0858589115 or Email. poul@lgbtdiversity.com.

Our Board of directors had a very energetic and productive meeting tonight where we have started the process of developing our strategic plan for the next 3 years. Our independent consultant has compiled the findings of our on-line survey and consultation meetings. The results will be available in a report in the coming weeks and will also be made available to the interagency working group Amach! is currently working with to progress supports and services for the LGBT community in Galway City and County. Amach!’s work will be guided by the issues, concerns, needs and suggestions identified in our consultation with the community. Our next meeting, facilitated by our independent consultant, to work on our strategic plan will take place on 23rd of April. We will keep you informed on the progress.