FOR TRUSTED ADULTS
Welcome to The Proud Trust’s resources for Trusted Adults of LGBT+ children and young people. If you are an LGBT+ young person looking for information or support, check out our pages for young people here!
Who is a ‘Trusted Adult’?
The service has been developed and created for any adult who has a trusted relationship with a young person. This could be a parent or carer, a schoolteacher, sports coach, bus driver, hairdresser, shopkeeper or anyone who has regular interactions with a young person.
If you feel there is something specific to your role or interactions with children and young people that isn’t covered in the resources, please do get in touch and let us know or use the web chat function to talk it through with one of our operators.
On these pages, you will find some helpful information which will hopefully help you in supporting the LGBT+ young people you are in contact with. These resources cover a range of different things such as exploring LGBT+ identities, LGBT+ inclusion and how to support young people coming out as LGBT+. You’ll also find information and biographies of LGBT+ people within ‘LGBT+ Icons’.
These pages are intended to give you a deeper understanding of LGBT+ identities and also provide information about how to support LGBT+ young people. We hope this will lead to more informed, open and supportive conversations with children and young people about LGBT+ identities.
TOP TIP:
Don’t be afraid of telling young people that you don’t know the answer and that you’ll find out, or maybe find out together!
You can use this website and the websites of our friends in the LGBT+ youth sector (who are linked throughout these pages) to find out more about the LGBT+ community and start to have open and informed conversations with the children and young people you interact with.
If you are struggling to find something to help you on these pages, or need more support or guidance, you can also use Proud Connections Live Chat.
The live chat will be open 12pm – 6pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays
TOP TIP:
You are not alone – support is out there and that goes for you and the children and young people you interact with.
Questioning your sexuality or gender identity can be a lot to process for children and young people, it is also a lot to process as the Trusted Adult of an LGBT+ young person – so don’t be afraid to seek support. Speak to us via the Proud Connections web chat or look up your local groups on the ‘Groups’ page of this site. There are people, groups and services out there to support you!
The information on these pages is intended for adults who are interacting with children and young people aged 8 and above. Therefore, some of the information will be in depth and may not be suitable or relevant to discuss with young people depending on their age. We want to make sure we are empowering Trusted Adults to feel more knowledgeable about LBGT+ identities. There are also areas of the resources which discuss ways to approach/discuss these themes with young people under 13 in an age-appropriate way.
For young people over 13, they (or you) can check out our resources and web chat for young people here.
- 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. You can continue to look at our resources while you wait; 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”). 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 and the children and young people you are in contact with.
- 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 (including the young people you are in contact with). You can find out more about this in our “Confidential Connection” statement. Please note that this statement is written with young people in mind, but the information is equally relevant to adults contacting the service.
Our operators are trained staff from The Proud Trust who have experience working with and supporting LGBT+ children and young people. But most importantly they are people who:
- Are LGBTQ+ themselves.
- Are here to help you create a supportive environment for the LGBT+ children and young people you interact with.
- 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+ children and 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 or we might have linked you up with other services that could support you and the young people you are in contact with.
Whatever happens after the chat, we are here to support you and the children and young people you support – you can contact us again any time.
Proud Connections is a support service with limited opening hours; we are not an emergency service. If you, or the children and young people you interact with need urgent support, you can contact Childline on 0800 1111 or text ‘SHOUT’ to 85258.
In an emergency you should always contact 999.