2020: A Year In Review
We know this hasn’t been a normal year, and the festivities may not be the same, but we wanted to wish you a Happy Christmas and New Year. As we all near the end of a pretty unforgettable year, we wanted to take some time to reflect on the journey we’ve been on, as we get excited for what’s to come in 2021. We want to express our greatest thanks to our funders and friends for their patience and support this year.
With love,
Anna, Matthew and Daniel at Tonic x
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Share this update with your networks too, and those who may want to register their interest in living at Tonic.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
LGBT+ community housing has a history! Much of which has never been recorded and is in danger of being lost. We want to gather stories about previous LGBT+ community housing, squats, shared houses and more.. If you know of any, have experience living in an LGBT+ community or want to share any with us, get in touch.
2020 has been a big year for us
While it may seem like we’ve been quiet from the outside, we’ve been hard at work to make our very first Tonic scheme a reality. We can’t share everything now, but let’s just say that we are very excited for 2021! In the meantime, here are our top five 2020 highlights:
1. We became a Housing Association 🏡
As Anna Kear, our CEO mentioned back in her Spring Update, we officially become a Housing Association! Tonic Housing Association Limited is a Charitable Community Benefit Society registered in England and Wales 8315. This puts us firmly on track to offer LGBT+ affirmative housing.
2. The Tonic Team expanded
July saw the Tonic Team grow, welcoming Matthew Riley as our Communications and Marketing Manager, and Daniel Hibbs-Woodings as our Community Outreach Coordinator. With the full-time staff team expanding from 1 to three people, it's meant that we've been able to speed along with more exciting projects. We've got a lot up our sleeve for the next few months. Read more about Matthew and Daniel here.
3. Building Safe Choices 2020 was released
Tonic, Stonewall Housing and Opening Doors London were proud to have teamed up to conduct much-needed research to better understand the housing, care and support requirements of older LGBT+ people in London. With over 620 respondents, the survey was the largest of its kind and carried out in early 2020, closing mid-first-lockdown. A huge thanks to every person who took the time to take part in the survey and focus groups.
We were blown away by the response to the report, which also received media coverage in DIVA, OutNewsGlobal and CMM. Anna has also discussed Building Safe Choices at the Virtual Care Show and hosted a Roundtable on LGBT+ Housing Issues with Inside Housing - attended by Tom Copley, Deputy Mayor of London for Housing.
4. Community and sector engagement 👋
Since starting, Daniel has been in contact with over 100 community LGBT+ and older persons' groups and organisations. We're a community-led organisation, so feedback is vital to growth and development. While the Coronavirus pandemic has meant we haven't been able to do as much as we'd have liked to in person, we're hoping with things looking a little more hopeful now, that we'll be able to meet many more of you next year. If podcasts are your thing, be sure to check out Matthew on the fantastic #LogBooks podcast, where he discussed Tonic and what we're working hard to achieve.
5.Launching our donations platform
Most recently, we launched our new Tonic Donations platform!
We have a big vision to make LGBT+ retirement communities a reality in the UK. Through the generous support of Friends of Tonic, we can do more to make this possible.
Your donation will help us keep connected with people, especially important during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as support the running costs of the organisation to enable us to create our first homes. You can donate via a monthly payment, which helps us plan more long-term ideas, or as a one-off.
Need someone to talk to this Christmas?
This can be a difficult time for many, so we want to signpost to some amazing organisations who you get contact if you need some support, or a friendly voice to talk to this Christmas.