LGBT groups in Wales will be revitalised by being brought together into a partnership (the Council) where they will benefit from shared resources and facilities, from the stimulation of regular contact and interaction, and from increased opportunities for funding. The Council will also involve input from UK-wide organisations in order to gather relevant expertise that is lacking in Wales. This will also allow the sharing of experience and best practice between existing groups as well as the development of cordial relationships through a shared sense of ownership of the project.

As well as individual partners being given necessary resources and support to pursue their own interests and address the needs of their own target groups at local and regional level, the Council will promote joint working and the integration of services and support that each organisation currently delivers as well as investigation into future joint activities to address the current gaps in service provision. This will enable all partners to maximise opportunities for joint learning and to minimise costs through shared/pooled resources. The project will also support individuals and groups through a centralised website and 0800 number to increase access to advocacy, information, advice, mentoring, coaching, and peer support.

The Wales Council for LGBT People will have two main focuses: capacity building and sustainability.

All voluntary organisations in Wales that either focus or deliver activities on LGBT issues and those UK-wide LGBT organisations that deliver work in Wales will be contacted and information will be gathered about the work that they currently carry out and also of their aspirations, ideas, and initiatives (the 30 organisations listed above have already signed an expression of interest in being involved in this project). Once this information has been gathered and analysed, a partnership agreement and terms of reference will be formulated for common goals and to match up those groups whose work programmes are closely related to each other.

Based on the findings of the information gathered, the Council will seek to undertake projects that involve the whole Council as well as smaller activities between two or more organisations within the Council or activities that aim at responding to the unmet needs of the LGBT community in Wales.

The Council will include organisations whose remit allows for work within the LGBT arena as well as across the various strands of equality and with different communities throughout Wales. These co-creation and joint working activities will allow all organisations to be able to benefit to and from easy and unrestricted access to the full range of groups covering those strands or communities, therefore adding value to each other’s work.

It is envisaged that within the first year of the project, there will be more projects of a bilateral nature due to the fact that this is a new way of working for many of the groups, but as trust develops within the second and third year there will be greater likelihood of and opportunities for increased Council-wide projects. However, the Council will also deliver a conference every year as a collaborative effort.

The Council will also focus one of its primary aims on exploring and developing an appropriate strategy for ensuring the long-term sustainability of the partnership as well as of every partner involved. This will be achieved through joint bids for available public funding for specific projects or for the Council, as well as through ventures that might secure revenue in more entrepreneurial ways. These might be opportunities that the partnership might want to undertake as a whole, or as a selection of interested partners, or as individual partners. Nevertheless, the Council will provide the practical support and expertise that some of the organisations might need in securing the funding (i.e. filling in bids, costing a project, putting in place performance management and quality assurance controls, etc).