Youth and counselling services unite

Youth and counselling services unite

The Gay and Lesbian Counselling Service (GLCS) and GLBT youth service Twenty10 have joined forces, combining their administrative staff position to streamline costs and maximise service delivery.

The organisations have been collaborating closely since 2003 when they both re-located their premises to a new building at Bedford St, Newtown.

Twenty10 is a state-wide organisation that provides support for young people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, same-sex attracted or gender-questioning, as well as their families and communities. GLCS provides telephone counselling and information services, and “coming out” groups.

Twenty10 executive officer Meredith Turnbull said the partnership worked well as the organisations were not in competition in any way.

“We are actually very complementary in the sense that we are predominantly for young people, while GLCS is predominantly for adults,” she said.

“They predominantly provide services at night, while we are in the day; they are mostly staffed by volunteers and we are predominantly paid staff.

“We already do work very closely together, but this is about formalising some of that and making us more efficient.”

After their four years of working together, Bedford St has become a vibrant community centre used by a number of groups, with professional spaces for both organisations.

“Twenty10 and GLCS share many values,” Turnbull said.

“Sharing administrative staffing is a logical step as we both seek to respond to growing needs for our services on limited income.”

Twenty10 and GLCS are two of the oldest GLBT organisations in NSW, GLCS president Tim Errington said.

“Both organisations are keen to explore ways to work together to be more effective in our services and more efficient with where our donated funds go,” he told SSO.

The administrative position available will be offered to a community member who preferably has a background in an administrative role.

The organisations are looking for someone who will fit into both teams and will work hard to make both organisations run effectively.

For information on the Administrative Officer role, contact Meredith on 8594 9556 or [email protected]. Applications close 31 January 2008.

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