Proud Connections
- Ability to save your favourite pages and resources
- More personalised conversations via the web chat
- Supported and individual referral to other support where necessary
Our instant messaging service is free, confidential and secure
The Proud Connections opening hours are:
The web chat will be open 12pm – 6pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays
Proud Connections is a support service with limited opening hours; we are not an emergency service. If you need urgent support while we are closed click here
Other ways to get help
We have worked with LGBT+ young people to put together information that helps answer the questions they, and the adults around them, had around LGBT+ identities. Whether you are an LGBT+ young person, a young person questioning their sexuality and/or gender, an adult who works with LGBT+ young people, or a family member or friend of an LGBT+ young person, you may find the answers to your questions on these pages too.
Click below to explore your section of the website to find out more about LGBT+ identities, coming out, and more!
What to expect
Before starting a chat make sure you have read What you need to know which explains our terms of service.
- You’ll be asked to create an account, login or join as a guest.
- There may then be a short wait depending on how busy the service is, but you will be connected to someone as soon as possible. Don’t worry, you can still check out our resources and information while you wait, then you’ll get a notification when the chat is ready.
- Once connected you will be able to speak to an operator (this is a trained staff member, not a “bot”). You will be able to type at your own pace. We are here to listen and support you, so take your time.
- We might ask some questions during the chat; this is just so that we can get a better understanding of your situation, so we can support you in the most appropriate way.
- Throughout the conversation the operator may offer you some information about other services that may be able to support you.
- Everything you say to us will remain confidential, so anything you say will stay between you and the operator. The only time we would need to share some of the conversation would be if you ask us to, or if we believe you or someone else is in danger. You can find out more about this in our
We are here to talk about anything you need to; this might be: your gender identity, your sexuality, your mental health, problems at school/college or your relationships with friends, family or your religion. Also, you might not want to talk about yourself, it might be that you want to know how to talk to or support a LGBT+ friend or family member.
No problem is too big or too small to talk to us about – we are here to support you!
If you are worried someone will see that you have been using the Proud Connection website, there are a few things you can do:
- Exit button: On all of our pages there is a quick exit button. If you are worried someone can see what site you are on, you can press this button and you will be redirected away from our website.
- Private browsing & deleting internet history: If you don’t know how to do this check out our guide
Once connected you will be speaking to one of our chat operators. Our operators are trained staff from The Proud Trust who have experience working with and supporting LGBT+ young people. But most importantly they are people who:
- Are LGBTQ+ themselves.
- You can trust.
- Will listen to you and will be open and friendly.
- Will not judge what you say and are ready to talk about anything you need to.
- Know about the issues facing LGBT+ young people, often from first-hand experience.
- Will give you space to share what you need to in your own time.
There may be times that the chat cuts off due to internet connection issues, or if you need to close the chat suddenly. Don’t worry, you can reconnect again once you are ready. You might not be able to connect with the same person, but once you reconnect someone will be there to support you.
We won’t finish the chat until you are ready to, unless it is because the service is closing for the day. Once the chat does come to a close, there might be a few different outcomes. You might have some new information to go away and look at, you might want to come back and chat again another day, or we might have linked you up with other services that could support you.
Whatever happens after the chat, we are here to support you and you can come back again any time.
Proud Connection is a support service with limited opening hours; we are not a crisis or emergency service. If you need urgent support, you can contact Childline on 0800 1111 or text ‘SHOUT’ to 85258.
In an emergency you should always contact 999.
We are always interested to hear your feedback about or services. Any feedback we get will be used to develop our services to make sure we are supporting people in the best way possible.
To give us feedback on your experience of Proud Connections you can either:
- Complete our feedback form here
- Email us at feedback@theproudtrust.org with as much detail as possible.
We’ll aim to acknowledge your feedback within 5 working days. If you are submitting a formal complaint about the service, we will aim to resolve the issue within 1 month. There may be times when we need longer to investigate the claims and address the issues raise. If this is the case, we will keep you informed of the progress and any updates.
If you are not happy with the outcome of the complaint you will be able to appeal the decision and we will be able to advise you on the next steps of that process.