Mental health charity CoolTan Arts plans events to mark LGBT History Month

The Queerness is proud to support award-winning mental health in arts charity, CoolTan Arts, based in South London. The organisation is well known for its work within the LGBT community and has organised the following events to coincide with LGBT History Month.

LGBT History & Performance Walk

20 February 2016

11:30am – 1:30pm

Meeting Point: Tiger Pub, Camberwell Green

Free

This walk will celebrate Camberwell’s finest Queer entertainment & performance history in conjunction with LGBT History Month. Join us to hear tales of Candy Dubarrry, John Byrne, Vesta Tilley and other past and contemporary LGBT locals. Discover how they are represented in old ballads, songs and poems, and learn about their mental health. The walk is part of the Largactyl Shuffle series – a fun guided cultural walk for mental and physical wellbeing run by award-winning arts in mental health charity CoolTan Arts.

The walk will take in local historical theatres, music halls, drag performance pubs, parks, and end at Royal Vauxhall Tavern
Talks on Victorian and retro performance artists and drags queens
Vauxhall Pleasure gardens
Discussion of the closure of at least four places on the route thathave closed in the past few years, despite Southwark historically having few LGBT venues
Cultural preservation of Vauxhall tavern – discussion of proposed addition of champagne bar upstairs

Open Afternoon: LGBT History Month

24 February 2016

1pm – 3pm

CoolTan Arts, Third Floor, 224-236 Walworth Road, London SE17 1JE

Free

Come and find out about award-winning mental health charity CoolTan Arts, and how we support the LGBT community. The Southwark-based organisation is run by and for volunteers with experience of mental health difficulties, and we stage historic walks, creative workshops and exhibitions for the benefit of people’s mental and physical wellbeing. This Open Afternoon will provide a taster of what we do and look at South London’s LGBT culture.