However, going back to single sex groups wasn’t really what Nicola and Sarennah were looking for – they missed the boys too much! They were also keen to have a chance to meet and chat with people in a non-scene, non-alcohol environment. So that’s where the idea for the ‘Tea Shop Tour’ came from. At first it was an extra meeting for the Malvern Lesbian Group on a Saturday morning at a different Tea or Coffee shop each month. This grew in popularity and, when they invited the whole local LGBT+ community to attend, was the beginning of Out2gether.

At the end of 2016, after much brain-storming of ideas we decided we would launch ‘Out2gether’ in February 2017, with an event to celebrate LGBT History Month. The launch event took place at the Horn and Trumpet and of course featured a buffet including LGBT+ themed cupcakes! Tom Piotrowski from Fortis Living (now Platform Housing) kindly donated funds to cover event expenses, Paul Denham the Mayor was invited and came (in his mayoral chain) to do a speech. At this time, we were just having a monthly social but in the years since then our membership and activities have expanded enormously!