Services & Support
Information & Support
The Rainbow Project provides a range of information and support services to gay and bisexual men, their families and friends, and professionals who also work with members of the LGBT community. These services include:
1. Listening-Ear-Service: support for gay and bisexual men either via the telephone or face-to-face.
2. Information on coming out, being gay, dealing with and reporting homophobia and bi-phobia, domestic violence in same-sex relationships, sign-posting to other available services, etc.
3. Information on supporting a child, friend, or client who comes out as gay or bisexual.
Please feel free to get in touch if you think we can provide you with information or support in any way.
Education & Training
The Rainbow Project provides specialised training and community education to help professionals offer a more responsive and inclusive service to members of the LGBT community. Training can be tailored to your individual needs of your organisation, services and client group.
Some typical examples of our training programmes include:
1. Raising awareness of the issues that affect the LGBT community in Northern Ireland.
2. Guidelines for working with LGBT people.
3. Supporting clients who disclose their sexual orientation.
4. Making your services more LGBT-friendly.
5. Counselling gay and bisexual men.
For more information about our training packages, please contact Ruth Noonan, Training Officer at our Foyle Centre on (028) 7128 3030.
Health Promotion
A significant part of our work is promoting physical, sexual, emotional and mental health.
The Rainbow Project employs a Physical and Sexual Health Worker and has secured funding to employ a Mental Health Worker. Their role is to promote health and well-being and to work with statutory agencies to make their services more responsive to the needs of gay- and bisexual men.
We also distribute safer sex packs - condoms, lubricant and safer sex information - to commercial gay venues, via the internet, through the LGBT community organisations, genito-urinary medicine clinics, and at major gay-interest events such as Belfast Pride.
We regularly produce and circulate pamphlets, posters and leaflets highlighting the importance of safer sex, looking after your mental health, and highlighting the risks associated with binge-drinking, using illegal drugs, and smoking.
We also run a number of personal development courses for gay and bisexual men which promote healthy lifestyle choices.
Counselling
The Rainbow houses Northern Ireland’s only gay-male-specific counselling service. We provide professional counselling for gay and bisexual men by qualified counsellors who also identify as gay or bisexual. Click here for more information about the service, or download our PDF guide.
Advocacy
The Rainbow Project can provide advocacy on your behalf or signpost you to other organisations that can provide support if you are experiencing homophobic or bi-phobic hate crime, are having problems in your job because of your sexual orientation, are being harassed or intimidated where you live or have problems accessing goods, facilities or services because of your sexuality etc.
Research
The Rainbow Project regularly undertakes research to highlight issues that affect our community. In 2006, we published an examination of the mental health needs of same-sex attracted young men entitled “Out on Your Own” by Helen McNamee. The research found that gay and bisexual men are more likely to experience mental health difficulties because of the homophobia and heterosexism that exist within society. For a copy of this research, please go to our downloads page.
We also contribute to other pieces of research carried out on issues affecting the health of gay and bi-sexual men carried out by other organisations on a regular basis.
