Many LGBTQ students – past and present – will attest to the excellent service provided by the University’s Counselling and Guidance Service at 3 Elm Road. The counsellors are dedicated, professional and friendly and are there to help sudents overcome personal issues that may arise during their time at University.

The service acknowledges and understands the difficult issues faced by many LGBTQ students during their time at University, including – but certainly not limited to – the difficulties involved in “coming out”. The LGBTQ Officer and the Association strongly recommend that any LGBTQ students use this service as the first port of call if, as an LGBTQ student, you are facing issues and feel you need some support.

One-to-one Counselling Sessions

Students may make an initial appointment to see a counsellor for an “assessment” session, wherein the counsellor will discuss the problem(s) that have brought you there determine whether the service can provide the help that you need. More information is available here.

Support Groups

Counselling and Guidance also run a series of workshops and support groups for students, wherein participants can benefit from each other as well as from the counsellors.

“Coming Out, Moving On”

Throughout January and February 2010, the service is running a “coming out, moving on” support group. These run as confidential support groups wherein issues of coming out to parents, family, friends and colleagues are discussed.

These groups will run every Wednesday between 3:15PM and 4:45PM at 3 Elm Road on the following dates:

  • 20th January
  • 27th January
  • 3rd February
  • 10th February
  • 17th February
  • 24th February

More information is available on this leaflet (requires Adobe Reader).

Q-Chat

The Counselling Service is also running the new “Q-Chat” service in the 2010 spring term.

Q-Chat is a moderated online chatroom that runs every Thursday evening during term time between 8PM and 9:30PM to provide a safe, confidential and anonymous service through which LGBTQ students may discuss common issues with each other and the Counsellors.

Contact Information

Please see the contact page of the Counselling and Guidance website for more information.