Wednesday the 29th of October 2014

This week we celebrated Halloween and quite a few people made the most of the opportunity. We should thank Millie, who always takes part in these events, who this week brought along her pet cat to keep us all in order. I dont know what she feeds it on but it is obviously doing well on it. We also had the pleasure of Rosie with her stall selling her jewellery a large amount of it she made herself. She is always open to suggestions and will make stuff to order if there is something you would like for yourself.

Rosie

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Rosie and Kate

Michaela

Michaela and Kate

Sonia

Nikki

Sarah Louise

Lynn

Judith

Alicia

Frances and Michaela

Millie’s Tights

Suki, Pauline and Sonia

Millie, Julia and Millie

Roli

Sam, Heather and Vanessa

Lisa

Paula

Genevieve

Erica

Kim and Julia

Heather and Helen

This was an enjoyable evening with many people turning up dressed for Haloween, so thank you to all those that made the effort. I was especially impressed with Michaela’s dress which she bought, via the internet, from China for the princely sum of £30.00 which seems like a bargain. She ordered it some weeks ago and kept on hoping that it would arrive in time, so was very glad when it came late last week.




Wednesday the 8th of June 2016

This evening we were visited by two Ladies and a chap who are looking for people to take part in the Channel 4 program advertised on the left. I am sorry but I didn’t take a note of their names. They emphasised that they were trying to find as diverse a mix of people as they could so they were very interested in finding some from the trans community if at all possible. If any of you are interested then please get in touch with them using one of the methods at the bottom of the leaflet. They would prefer phone calls as their time scale is short and they plan to start filming fairly soon. They think that many problems in the world are caused by people not talking enough in an honest way, so what they really want isn’t understood properly. This is a television program so do make sure you are prepared for any publicity you will get before volunteering to take part.

Paula & Lynn

Carole, Nikki & Nicola

Linda

Megan, Milli & Pauline

This week started off very quietly but picked up as the evening went on. We had nothing special arranged but our visitors mentioned above made an impact and got people talking so that was good. Next week we will have Gill Springay The Makeover Girl with us. This is specially useful for newcomers as plenty of free good advice will be given so do make the effort to get here if you can.

Sarah and Faye




Wednesday the 19th of November 2014

This was a normal club meeting, but things are starting to move already, for Sparkle next year and Karen has organised another Fund raising “Fire Walk” event to be held in Sackville Gardens on Sunday the 21st of December starting at 5pm. So, as part of the organisation for this event, the Manchester Council insist that all the residents who live round the park must be sent letters giving them the details. Karen organised the printing of the letters but I volunteered Manchester Concord members to take on the job of folding, filling, stamping and addressing all 196 letters that need to go out to fulfil this obligation. We have done this job a few times now to help Sparkle and the group of people shown here, that I asked to help out, managed to get the job done in around half an hour. I would here like to thank them all , on behalf of the Sparkle trustees, for doing the job so willingly.

Chloe

Ami and Fiona

Julia

We haven’t seen Chloe at the club since before Sparkle in July so it was lovely to see her back with us again after such a long gap. She is such a busy lady these days that she now get little opportunity to come into Manchester on a wednesday. I hope it will not be as long before she makes it again.

Lisa

Danni and Julia

Millie

It was interesting to talk with Danni this evening as she told me that she has recently been asked by her employers if she would become one of their Diversity representatives and help them with educating their staff in this regard. I suggested that she speaks to Jenny-Anne of Transforum as I know that she is already supplying training for several organisations.

Erica

Erica, on the left, has recently started coming to the club again , after a gap of many years, has offered to donate a number of clothes to the club and will be organising a clothes sale next week, the 26th of November. We will also have Gill Springay, The Makeover Girl, with us so it should be an interesting evening. Finally, on Sunday the 23rd of November, I attended the Transgender Day of Rememberence ceremony in Sackville Park along with very many other people including many of our members. It is a very moving occasion well organised by the TDOR group who organised the installation and maintenance of the Memorial shown below. We are exceeding lucky in this country at the level of tolerance that now exists to Transgender people, thanks to very much hard work by many people that have gone before us. But we still need to realise that this is not happening everywhere, as the statistic of 268 transgender people who have been KILLED THIS YEAR 2014, around the world shows. There is still much to be done.




Wednesday the 29th of June 2016

Nikki, Sarah, Minima, Lisa & Heather

The weather was most unlike June so I think this resulted in a very slow start to the evening, but it picked up later on. I talked to several people for longer than usual and this resulted in me forgetting to take many pictures. Stepani, on the right, has to come a long way to get here so she doesn’t make it very often. We dont get a chance to talk much. I enjoyed my chat with her so thank you Stepani it was good to see you two weeks in a row. Minima, in the middle on the left, came in to ask me to sign her name change deed poll form, which I did as I have known her for about 4 years.

Stepani

Roli

Roli is now back with us again after her trip to Africa, but she can only make it here on the last wednesday of the month, as she is so busy with other things. She has asked me to try to have our colour theme nights on the last wednesday so she can take part. We will try to remember that in future. Paula is our most regular attender so I do try to include her here most weeks. It is always a pleasure. DONT FORGET, next week we will be holding our Music and Karaoke evening as one of the first FRINGE events of SPARKLE 2016 which will take place in Sackville Gardens this coming weekend the 9th & 10th of July I hope to see you all there.

Paula




Wednesday the 13th of July 2016

Heather, Antonia, Rebecca, Ella, Sarah & Llyn

The week after Sparkle proved to very quiet but as always it is a pleasure to welcome people that haven’t been for a long time, such as Antonia and Ella. Both in the picture on the left. Ella has apparently named herself after Ella Fitzgerald and knowing that it is now easier to remember her name.

Frances, Heather, Ruby & Rebecca

Sue

Joan

Paula

It was great to welcome back Sue, shown above on the left. We had a long chat at Sparkle and she promised to come along with some photos. I first met Sue in 1987 soon after I came out of the closet as she was a regular at the club. She eventually became great friends with a very well known tv called Tammy who used to go everywhere in very “Over the Top” outfits. Sadly Tammy died some years ago from Liver cancer so Sue has been bereft ever since. What is nice is that Sue became good friends with Tammy’s wife and they are still friends. Sue is still the same effervescent character that she always was and she entertained the people here this evening with her stories. She joined us later in the Molly House and it was then that we realised that she still liked her drink. She was planning to go to Napoleons after we left but a few of us decided that it would be better if she went home, as she was very vulnerable on her own. Llyn and I took her home in my car and dropped her at her back door. The following day she rang and thanked me for the evening and for taking her home so she was aware of what happened at the end and was glad to get home safely Next week will be my 80th Birthday so the Committee have decided to make it a special evening. I hope that at least some of my friends from the past might turn up. Mary




Wednesday the 6th of January 2016

Frances, Judith ,Lynn, Vanessa & Pauline

Wishing a HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all. This week we started off with a Pantomime theme and here are two pictures of those wearing the longest outfits early in the evening.

Frances, Judith, Lynn & Vanessa

Vanessa, Michaela & Frances

Corina

Michaela

Michaela came along later so here she is with our two entertainers and also on her own. I think her wig really suits her and she looks great in this princess outfit so she deserved a picture on her own. Corina also came along a bit later in her Schoolgirl outfit and she enjoyed taking pictures of most of the other girls in the club.

Anna, Brenda, Judith & Joanne

It was really nice to welcome Anna back into the club as she doesn’t get out as much as she used to. She had attended a meeting at the LGF during the afternoon and then met Lynn at Butterflies. They decided to go and have a meal together and then Anna decided that she might as well lengthen her day and visit us as well. We tried to persuade her to try to make it more often and you never know, she is thinking about it as she enjoyed her evening.

Tina

Cate & Joanne

Linda

Linda went and stayed with her sister for a few days over the christmas break and I was really pleased to hear that most of the staff in the home where she lives had given her female items as presents so she was very happy with this.

Heather & Ruby

Ruby had to dash off to catch her train home and I just managed to get a photo of her and Heather before she left. They now actually live fairly near each other and it is good to hear that they meet up occasionally and do things together as they are both full time in their female roles. Finally a bit of good news, Millie who has been absent from the club for some months due to ill health is now fully recovered and this Thursday the 7th of January she was given the OP which she has been waiting a long time for. I am glad to say that she has just texted me from her hospital bed saying that she is now all done and is sitting up and eating her evening meal so that sounds good to me. We look forward to seeing her back at the club when she has recovered enough to drive.

Millie




Wednesday the 2nd of March 2016

Dolores, Michaela, Caitlin, Mary & Lynn

This evening we had a yellow dress theme and a few people managed to fit the bill. I was very pleased to see that Caitlin came along in a full yellow dress with a collection box for the Macmillan nurses along with their daffodil badges. Thanks Caitlin, that was a good idea.

Caitlin, Diane. Carole, Lisa & Whitney

Caitlin

Lynn

Linda

Diane & Carole

Whitney

Paula

Tina, Lynn, Dolores, Pauline, Michaela & Frances

I am still recovering from the cold I got after I came back from my holiday, so it is difficult for me to keep up my energy level, but it is good to see people enjoying meeting like minded friends and being themselves. I was really pleased to see Whitney, our member from Belgium, on her monthly visit to the UK making the effort to keep with us. Thanks Whitney we appreciate your support.




Wednesday 24th of August 2016

Elizabeth

This week we had the pleasure of a presentation by Jill and Elizabeth from YOUNIQUE. They were demonstrating a Mascara product that can be used to make your eyelashes much larger than their normal size. It is a two part process with the second part containing small hairs that adhere to the mascara to lenghten the final result. It can be applied several times to make them much larger than normal.

Nikki, Lisa & Jill

Elizabeth and Michaela

Jill introduced herself and Liz and started the ball rolling with a game, having arranged us mostly in a circle to make things easier. This went down very well with people taking part and relaxing. At the end of each game someone finished up with a free copy of their mascara product. Liz then gave a demonstration of the mascara using a willing volunteer, Michaela as her model. The result was very impressive. I thought I had taken a closeup photo but it doesn’t seem to have come out so I must have done something wrong, sorry. They had examples of all their other products as well that can be seen on the photo of Elizabeth above. The two ladies were very popular and stayed all evening. They may pay us a visit on another evening to show other things like their skin care products. To be arranged.

Jill introducing the product with a game.

Michaela

Tim

Kristina

Nikki & Vanessa

Kaily & Nikki

I was delighted to see Kristina come in this evening as she is a very busy lady and has not managed to make it for several months. It is also great to see Vanessa with us looking so well even though she is still undergoing Chemo treatment. I was also pleased to see Kaily come in accompanied by another Nikki who we haven’t seen for a couple of years. The two of them had just met at a Speech training course that is currently being run at the LGF in Richmond street. If any one else is interested in that aspect then why not get in touch with the LGF and find out more. Their website is www.lgbt.foundation.

Mary




Wednesday the 16th of September 2015

Helen & Michelle

This evening we had Michelle Mullany with us showing her “My Showcase” beauty products. She came in just after 7pm with her two lovely daughters who wanted to see where their mummy was going to spend some time before they had to go off to be put to bed by daddy. They went off with no fuss after helping deliver her boxes to us. When Michelle came back we helped to set up the tables so that she could lay out her products.

Helen with her stall

Paula & Michelle

Michelle is a very sociable lady and she quickly got talking to several different people, showing them the products in the My Showcase catalogue. This catalogue has been put together by Kate Shapland, Beauty Editor of the Telegraph to show the best in independent beauty products. She talked and made friends with most of the people who came this evening and has agreed to return again in a few months for a second visit having greatly enjoyed her evening. On the right we have Alice shown with Judith. Alice was visiting Manchester from down south in the Southhampton area so she took the opportunity to join us for the evening. She spent the whole evening with us and even came along to the Molly House afterwards to stretch the evening out so I think she enjoyed herself. Welcome Alice I hope we see you again soon.

Alice & Judith

Cindy & Maxine

We also had another potential new member visit us this evening, Maxine, shown here on the left with Cindy. She is a local girl so we may see more of her in the future. It is always great to see Cindy when she pops in on her way back to Leeds. She is very supportive of the club and comes in whenever she can make it. Below it seems that split full length dresses may be coming back into fashion as we had two with us this evening. Maybe we should have this as a theme for an evening in the future. Below, Frances, shown with Lynn, has just come back from a short holiday in Glasgow having had a very enjoyable time seeing all the sights in that area.

Helen, Rebecca & Lisa

Michaela

Rachel & Julia

Genevieve

Carole

Lynn & Frances

Linda

Next week and the week after will be a normal club evenings followed by a “Blue Dress” theme evening the week after that on the 7th of October.




Wednesday 14th of December 2016

This evening we had a musical entertainment from two of our members, who initially surprised us with their american songs by their two man act called THE MERKINS. This went down well, but I think we preferred it when they returned later as their old selves Gabrielle and Gina. I would like to thank them both for all the effort they put in to entertain us. It was fascinating to hear that some people didn’t realise they were the same people. Well done to you both.

Diane

It is always a pleasure to welcome back old friends who only manage to get here occasionally. This evening it was Diane and Penny who came along at different times during the evening and I was delighted to see them after a gap of about a year. Thanks for coming.

Penny

Roli

Judith, Jacquie, Carole & Mica

Melissa