Prepared by Russell Bates
Introduction
The Gay Line Wellington Trust was formed on Wednesday 24th May 2000. This Annual Report covers the Trust’s twelfth financial year.
The Group operates a web site for people to visit and explore information on:
- sexual orientation;
- gay life in Wellington and further a field with a main focus on the wider Wellington region; and
- listings of gay and gay friendly services — Doctors, Dentists, Counsellors, Religious Organisations, etc.
As the first meeting of the Trust was held on May 24, 2000 Gay Line will have completed 12 years of operation on 8 May, 2011.
Aims and Goals
The aims and goals of the Group are:
- To enable every Gay male to reach his full potential.
- To provide a Web site that lists gay businesses, organisations and information in the wider Wellington region.
- To develop a series of articles which promote a healthy gay life style.
- To provide a link between clients and counsellors.
- To provide an interactive web-based information and support service.
- To cater for a wide range of people while protecting those under 16 years of age.
- To provide for other organisations a facility to publish promotional material, provided that material complies with the values of this Group.
Funding
The Gay Line Wellington Trust is funded by the Rule Foundation.
On behalf of the group I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Trustees who administer the Rule Foundation for their support during this period. Without this support it may not have been possible for The Gay Line Wellington Trust to continue to operate and to make donations to others.
Members
The group has a membership of seven gay men. We have an intention to increase the number of members. We would like to see an increase in the number of younger members in order to better promote Gay Line to younger members of the gay community and to harness younger energy and innovation.
Financial Statements
Financial statements are presented separately.
Achievements
During this reporting period the following are some of the achievements made by the Trust:
- Huge progress in the website redevelopment project. This includes the development of a database and conceptual design of the website. The vast majority of the work has been done in-house, led by Tom. Without Tom’s hard work and effort we would not have achieved what has been done to date. Tom’s commitment to this important project has been particularly inspiring. John has also made a considerable contribution. I would like to thank Tom and John for their dedication to this work.
- Site listings maintenance work. This continues to be a major time consuming activity. The website redevelopment work should eventually see the time spent doing this reduced.
- Recruitment of a new member who is keen to develop new content for the website.
- Continued development of a good working relationship with the Wellington Gay Welfare Group.
- Donation to School’s Out Wellington.
- Donation to Out in the Square.
Acknowledgments
The Group can only operate because of the skills, enthusiasm and commitment of its members. I would like to thank all members for the time, energy and commitment given to providing this important service to Wellington and beyond.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the membership as a whole for the support I’ve received as the Chair of Gay Line Wellington.
Looking forward
There is still considerable work remaining. In the coming year I’m particularly looking forward to:
- The completion and implementation of the website redevelopment project. This is our most important work at the moment. The database will be of huge benefit to the community.
- Adding new content to the website.
- Continuing to support groups who are doing positive things for our communities.
- Increasing the number of members of Gay Line.
Russell Bates