Crocus logo 

Crocus planning committee members at the launch

Photo by Sue Ackon

Crocus is being set up as a strong voice for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people in the London Borough of Croydon. It was formally launched on 12th May 2008 at an event in Croydon Town Hall.

See our Press Releases for more about the launch.

The results of the 2008 Croydon LGBT Survey  have now been published on this web site.

Membership

Crocus was initiated by Croydon Voluntary Action (CVA) and is supported by:

  • Aurora (Croydon's LGBT Police Consultation Group)
  • CAGS (Croydon Area Gay Society)
  • The Consortium of LGBT Voluntary and Community Organisations
  • Croydon Trans Group (local transgender support group)
  • Gemini (self-help support group for TG/TS people)
  • GALOP (London's LGBT community safety charity)

We welcome contacts from any other LGBT organisations with a presence in Croydon.

Membership of Crocus will include the sponsoring LGBT-led organisations, but will also be open to any individuals who identify as LGBT and live, work, socialise, or have an interest in Croydon. We aim specifically to be inclusive of all local LGBT people, including those sections of the community under-represented in existing organisations, for instance ethnic minorities and faith groups.

The current Officers of Crocus (Chair, Vice-chair, Secretary, and Webmaster) were elected at the Annual General Meeting on the 4th of March 2009. Currently the Secretary is also acting as Treasurer, but the plan is to appoint a Treasurer and to co-opt up to three other people onto the Executive Committee, to reflect the diversity of Croydon's LGBT Communities.

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Background

Crocus was set up with the following  objectives:

  • being a place where public authorities can be held to account
  • providing information to LGBT people and to local organisations and public bodies
  • bringing together the knowledge from the various existing groups
  • coordinating campaigns on matters of common interest
  • helping to create social and support facilities for LGBT people where they are not met by existing bodies
  • taking action on issues together
  • creating a safe space with opportunities for networking
  • meeting regularly and reporting back to communities of interest

Meetings

Crocus will be holding five General Meetings a year with all local LGBT people invited and five Executive Committee Meetings (which any member may attend) in the alternate months. All meetings are on the third Tuesday of the month.

The next meeting, on Tuesday the 6th of June, will be a social evening at the Star and Garter in Bromley. For dates of other meetings, see the diary page.

Issues

Crocus is intended to address issues concerned with:

  • Croydon Council
  • health
  • housing
  • policing (with Aurora taking the lead on police issues)
  • making local businesses more LGBT-friendly.

Constitution

The Constitution (previously referred to as the Terms of Reference) was ratified at the planning meeting on 26th November 2008.

Other events

Crocus will be holding social and other events from time to time, including a major programme of events for LGBT History Month in February each year. We had a full week of events during LGBT History Month 2008: see our flyer about  this and our advert in the local press).

See our diary page for the current programme.

E-mail us for more information.

Last updated:
11 May 2009

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