MAUREEN
What does it take to live and thrive in London as a queer migrant man or a queer man of colour? That was the question we explored with the scores of individuals involved in our MAUREEN programme over its deeply impactful four-year run.
ABOUT
MAUREEN was originally initiated in 2022 as part of the London Health and Care Partnership. That first year pilot led to three further years of funding through Propel, running from May 2023.
In its first pilot year MAUREEN held community knowledge generation events with five overlapping groups in London (Black GBMSM; Asian GBMSM; Brazilian GBMSM; Latino GBMSM; and Eastern European GBMSM). Those groups went on to co-produce award-winning podcasts, harm reduction multilingual guides, blogs, events and support networks.
As MAUREEN developed, and building on the learning from the pilot year, we came to understand that one of the most important aspects of the programme was the opportunity to come together - to build community, make friendships, and find kinship.
OUR APPROACH & NETWORKS
Throughout its 2023-26 phase, MAUREEN built five inter-linked networks designed to generate community knowledge, improve health, challenge inequalities, reduce isolation, and strengthen London-wide policy.
To achieve these aims, we recruited groups of queer men (including trans men and non-binary people assigned male at birth) each year via existing networks and social media to form network hubs.
Together, we undertook knowledge generation activities to identify their health needs, published our findings, and co-produced targeted community resources that were disseminated through the men’s own networks.
This foundational work directly informed the co-creation of our peer events, ensuring they provided vital, relevant spaces for peer-based health interactions and community building.
A GROWING COMMUNITY
Guided by those network hubs, MAUREEN was a remarkably successful project, delivering over 150 queer events each year. These activities spanned an incredible range of interests - from sexual-health workshops, language-building events, and literacy initiatives, to foraging, hiking, kayaking, boxing, climbing, book clubs, film clubs, game clubs, FLINTA-dedicated events, and many more.
During these three years, we learned that we wanted to expand our reach. We moved beyond our initial focus on queer migrant men and queer men of colour to welcome all queer migrants and queer people of colour. While we proudly maintained some gender-specific or ethnicity-specific spaces, our broader offer was ultimately opened up to this wider, diverse community.
CO-PRODUCTIONS
Beyond our regular calendar of events, we created larger co-production initiatives directly with the communities we initially connected with during our knowledge generation events. Two of our biggest co-productions included:
Under One Roof: A vibrant ballroom day event focused on empowering the mostly queer people of colour community. It centred on wellbeing and community care, featuring panel discussions, vaccinations, and testing.
Queer Britain Takeover: A group of queer migrant men met regularly at Queer Britain to explore what it means to be queer, a man, and a migrant in a city like London. This artistic collaboration ultimately culminated in a powerful exhibition at the museum.
WHAT'S NEXT: PHASE 2
The MAUREEN project touched many lives, generated vital community knowledge, and built stronger networks equipped to challenge inequalities.
Now, we are stepping into Phase 2. We were incredibly lucky to secure a grant to continue this crucial work for the next 7 years!
As we evolve, the project will be restructured to reflect the new, exciting things coming up. See our programmes to read more.
GET INVOLVED
Got questions, ideas, or want to know more about the MAUREEN programme? Our coordinators are here to help.
GET IN TOUCH
Looking for events curated especially for queer migrants and queer people of colour? We got you covered.