'Side by Side'

In this week’s Side By Side we marked Pride Month learning about the political origins of the first UK Pride march in 1972 and the Stonewall uprising in New York City in 1969, while celebrating the progress made in the intervening decades.

A more sobering story however was that of Alan Turing and his disgraceful treatment by the State despite his astonishing contribution to our country in WW2. The group felt this story should be more widely known and so we share this excellent YouTube clip here…

Given the approach of Easter and it being the holy month of Ramadan, the Side By Side group looked at the world's main religions for its most recent workshop, and as usual we learned, listened, discussed, quizzed and ate!

Here are some shots from that excellent session, and having concluded that all the religions share a belief in the Golden Rule of 'do as you would be done by', we wish you a happy Easter holiday!

'Marking LGBT+ History Month, our Side By Siders this week looked at data on this topic in the UK and abroad and discussed how the LGBT+ story has evolved in the last few decades. As usual, they were energetic, mature, well-informed as well as excellent company...'

'A mature and thoughtful Side By Side session, looking at the important topic of mental health and how it fits into the Equality Act.'

For this session of Side By Side we looked at hearing impairment. Drew was invaluable in explaining about the 'hearing loop' and the entire group excelled at the BSL and lip-reading activities, but the best pictures are from the spirited round of charades...though there was some debate around how that word is pronounced! 😏

Our Side By Siders investigating disability...starting here with visual impairment. We learned about Braille and the other challenges faced by the blind and visually impaired through some empathy games! We gained a new respect for those who manage the world without the benefit of sight.