Campaign by 
Story
This winter, more LGBTQ people than ever before are reaching out to MindOut.
During the colder months and especially around Christmas, feelings of loneliness, isolation, and distress can intensify. For many LGBTQ individuals, the festive season can be a time of exclusion rather than celebration. Last winter, we saw an average 40% increase in demand for our mental health support during the holiday period.
That’s why we’re launching our Winter Festive Appeal 2025 with a goal to raise £25,000 to keep our life-saving services open and scaled up to meet this need.
The Current Mental Health Crisis:
Over 70% of LGBTQ individuals face mental health challenges as compared to 16% of the general population.
Depression rates amongst members of the LGBTQ community are 4 times the general population.
Around 33% delay seeking help due to fear of discrimination in mainstream healthcare services, while it is reported that 24% face healthcare prejudice.
How Our Services Help:
MindOut is run by and works with LGBTQ individuals to help bridge this gap present in mainstream healthcare services.
We run LGBTQ affirming counselling services, peer mentoring and support groups, online chat systems, advocacy services and telephone befriending services. These essential services work towards providing lifelines to LGBTQ individuals in need. We aim to keep all our services free and accessible to people.
Our dedicated team of staff and volunteers and ensure our services are intersectional and inclusive to people from all backgrounds. Furthermore, MindOut also promotes LGBTQ allyship via training programs and workshops, driving systematic change for a marginalised community,
How You can Help:
Donate to Us:
Every gift helps us provide free, life-saving mental health support when it’s needed most. Just £30 can fund a counselling session for someone in need.
Share this appeal
Spreading the word makes a huge difference. Sharing our page with friends, family, colleagues or on social media helps us reach more people.
Fundraise for MindOut
Whether it’s a birthday fundraiser, a winter challenge, or a workplace collection, your creativity can help us reach our goal.
Partner with us
If you’re part of a business or organisation, we’d love to explore ways to support LGBTQ mental health together, through fundraising, matched giving, or awareness-raising.
“Winter can be an isolating time, especially for LGBTQ people struggling with mental health and those estranged from family. Our appeal helps provide vital, often life-saving support. With your help, our staff and volunteers will ensure no one faces this difficult season alone" - Peter Nesbitt, Director @ MindOut
With your help, £25,000 will help us Achieve:
Expand national online support chat, allowing us to be there for more people when they need us. Provide a safe, anonymous space to reduce isolation and stigma, and signpost to appropriate services. Improve online mental health tools for LGBTQ communities.
Ensure our services stay open and accessible over the winter period and beyond to ensure waiting times are low during periods of high isolation.
Allow us to re-introduce group therapy sessions by Spring 2026, ensuring we maximise our impact and allow a space for our service users to feel supported.
Help us reach our ambition to Increase our number of regular support groups helping us bring down the waiting time and reach more people.