Get Out Glasgow February News
26th February 2025
The Get Out Glasgow group provides free introductions to sport and physical activity for LGBTIQ+ people in Greater Glasgow.
Over the past month we’ve run a 4 week yoga course with Yoga Ema at the Wee Retreat which had excellent feedback. Check out Ema's (they/ them) classes here.
We also ran a number of climbing sessions in partnership with Glasgow Queer Adventures. Last month’s bouldering taster session was followed by a top-roping taster session at Glasgow Climbing Centre. Some of these participants have just begun an introduction to climbing course where they will learn to belay, abseil and ‘top-rope’ which means climbing using a rope.
Glasgow Queer Adventures ran a top-roping social, at the same time as the taster session where more experienced climbers supervised those less experienced, this is something they plan to continue offering once a month. Contact them via Instagram to find out more.
Participants from Get Out Glasgow, Trans Active and Just Active joined teams from our LGBTIQ+ sports club network to compete for the West Cup at our annual LGBT History Month ten-pin bowling tournament at Hollywood Bowl. A great night was had by all. Gender Goals FC, entered for the first time and won the West Cup with an average score of 99 points per player per game!
Coming Up!
Get Out Glasgow Steering Group Tuesday 22nd April 6-7.30pm - we need your input to shape the future of Get Out Glasgow, anyone who has attended a session is welcome. Please sign-up here.
Drop in Badminton and Volleyball on Mondays from 5.45-7.45pm at The Pyramid at Anderston, 759 Argyle St, Glasgow G3 8DS. You're welcome to arrive at 5.30pm, play will start at 5.45pm. Please wear warm clothes as the venue has limited heating. Contact bill@leapsports.org with any questions.
Contemporary Dance taster session with Tayfun (he/ him) on Tuesday 8th April from 6-7pm at Studio 22, 22 Jamaica St, Glasgow G1 4QD. Sign-up here.
We’re currently scheduling activities from April onwards, so watch this space!
Sharing your stories
Our Roller Derby programme which was delivered in partnership with Glasgow Roller Derby last autumn, came to an end in December. Jacqualyn attended their 16 week new-skater intake after attending a taster session with Get Out Glasgow in September. We recently caught up with Jacqualyn to hear more about her experience:
‘The taster session and the roller derby in general was a very pivotal moment for me turning things around and starting to build better things for myself and settle into Glasgow after 2 years of living there… They foster a really good environment and awareness that the only person you have to focus on being better than is yourself last week…I have a community open to me now- Derby is a huge community… You get on with everyone, there are no cliques, no barriers between the team and the recruits… It is hard to put into words to explain how transformative going to that first session was in pushing me down a better route for life in general.’
Check out the full story here.
This LGBT History Month we are celebrating LGBTIQ+ sport in the North of Scotland with weekly blogs from our community members! We’ve had some lovely blogs from club members in Dundee, Elgin and Aberdeen sharing the impact involvement in LGBTIQ+ inclusive sport has had on their lives.
A member of Dundee Roller Derby shares a history of roller derby from its origins in the 1930s to its resurgence in the early 2000s:
'Roller Derby is not just a sport, it's a social movement. It is a safe space for people to go and to be part of a team, where you don’t have to be anything other than authentically yourself, there is no expectations other than to train hard, play hard and have fun!: “It was both campy and colourful and extremely serious…. the skaters were having a lot of fun, but they also brought an intensity to it unlike almost anything I’d ever seen.”
Check out the full story here.
Lindsay shares her experience as a bi twin getting involved in fencing.
‘When the rest of my world seemed to see me as not worth considering…at fencing I could forget it and just be me. It’s what made realising that I was bisexual so much easier. I had these feelings, they were real and valid, but even if I was worried or upset about them, fencing would help me forget for 90 minutes every Thursday night.’
Check out the full story here.
Brad shares the impact running had on his mental health during his recovery from addiction and an HIV and AIDS diagnosis:
‘That first walk &mdash just 300 meters to the nurse’s station &mdash left me exhausted. But it was a start. Every day, I pushed a little further. One step became a few. Then a jog. Then a run. At first, I wasn’t running toward anything &mdash I was simply running away from death. But over time, running became something more. It became a declaration: I am alive.’
Brad now plans to run 4 marathons this year raising money for Four Pillars. Donate here.
Check out the full story here.
To learn more about our work in the North of Scotland, check out this video about our Out and About in the Highlands project.
Share your story
If you’d be interested in writing a blog to share your experience of accessing LGBTIQ+ inclusive sport and physical activity check out our top tips and contact robin@leapsports.org with your ideas.
Festival Fortnight
Festival Fortnight is Scotland’s LGBTIQ+ sports festival coordinated by LEAP Sports from 14th-30th June 2025. Grants of up to £250 are available to run events. Examples of previous events can be found here. Some ideas include come-and-try sessions, a sports related film screening or watch party, a sports challenge, or a wellbeing walk. Grant applications open on 13th March and close on 20th April. If you’re interested in running an event and would like to find out more please register here to come along to our grant information session on Thursday 3rd April. If you’d like to run an event but don’t need funding the deadline to register your event is 26th May. For any questions please contact festivalfortnight@leapsports.org
Train to be a cycle instructor!
Last year we ran an amazing cycle programme in partnership with Dynamo CIC. This year they’re seeking cycling instructors and can provide training so if you love cycling contact hello@dynamocic.org to find out more. To access the training course you’d need to commit to doing 3.5hrs a week of paid teaching for Dynamo in April and August.
