LGBTQIA+ outdoor enthusiasts from across Cumbria are being brought together thanks to a new adventure group.
Lakes Queer Adventures was set up by Tessa, 25 and her partner Sami, 27, from Ulverston, to create a space for LGBTQIA+ people to come together, make new friends and get out into the Lake District.
The group take on everything from indoor climbing to wild swimming, hiking and orienteering and always welcome new faces at their events which take place twice a month. Anywhere from five to 15 people attend, and the trips out are normally followed up with a pub meal or a coffee.
The pair were initially inspired to set up the group by other minority adventure groups attending Kendal Mountain Festival as well as Peak Queer Adventures, the group’s now sibling adventure group based in the Peak District.
Talking on what the group meant to them, Sami said: “I guess we saw a need to set it up more than anything. It’s given us a sense of community and belonging. Me and Tess before we started the group we went to a Peak Queer Adventures walk and until that point I had never seen someone who looked and identified in the same way I did. That was the first time at the age of 26 that I met someone the same as me and it gives you that sense of belonging.”
Tessa added: “It makes me feel not alone because I meet other people and they’re like oh I’m queer, I’m bi, I’m gay or non binary and I’m like oh cool, it’s not just me then! It’s also a lot easier to get out when you have a group of friends who will come out and do it with you, it’s motivating and you can share a laugh, a cake or a hug or whatever whilst doing something you enjoy and is good for you
“I think it’s also unusual to find an LGBTQIA+ place that isn’t about drinking and partying. Especially in places like Manchester and different cities it’s very like lets go out and get drunk and dance, so it is nice to have an alternative. We’re not an exclusively sober space, but we’re not centred around drinking either.”
After setting up the collective last November, the group now have followers from across the UK and regularly get new members visiting from places such as Leeds and Lancaster.
Tessa said: “At first it was a bit of an experiment to begin with, we weren’t used to social media at the start but now we sort of are! It’s come in waves really, at the beginning we’d do an event and might have had one or two people coming but now it’s grown legs and we’ve got people coming from further afield. It’s clear there’s a need for groups like this across the whole of the North of England.
“I think a lot of young people grow up in Cumbria and then move away, especially if you feel like you don’t fit in. Speaking from personal experience, I went to the University of Manchester and I was desperate to get away and meet open minded people, but then I thought I don’t want to live in Manchester, I want to live in the Lakes, so I have to make this community myself because its not here already.”
She added that while there are spaces across the county for LGBTQIA+ people to come together, they had not been able to find any other LGBTQIA+ outdoor adventure spaces based in Cumbria.
She said: “There is some really good stuff going on in Carlisle with Pink Youth and Barrow’s Drop Zone Youth, but that’s because they are the two biggest places in Cumbria, so there’s not a lot in between and there’s definitely not queer spaces that are adventure based. I think it’s because Cumbria is such a massive county and compared to other places is sparsely populated.”
Sami added that the group have also applied for funding to host a weekend camping trip around Easter time next year, where they are hoping to see around 30 people attend, including some members from Peak Queer Adventures.
Sami said: “The Youth Hostel Association and support network All the Elements put together a little community of groups like ours and charities that are all doing similar things to LQA so they’re providing some funding towards what we’re doing and also creating a community of like minded groups as well.”
Both Sami and Tessa are striving to make the group as accessible as possible and not all of their adventure require a high level of physical fitness.
Sami said: “We try to make it as inclusive as possible and we try to say we always make it so that whoever wants to come along, can. As an outdoor tutor, I work with so many different types of people every day, so I have a lot of ideas for how to get people involved. We also run a variety of different events and not all of them require a level of fitness, our wild swims don’t require much walking or swimming and we once did an arts and crafts day in Kendal.”
Tessa added: “The events we put on aren’t organised events, they’re just gatherings. We make sure to post the distance of the adventure and say whether it’s on footpaths so people can make an informed choice on what they want to get involved with. Everyone is responsible for their own safety. But if someone gets in touch to let us know they want to join in but have some accessibility requirements then we would be absolutely more than happy to put on an event they can join in with, we’re very adaptable!”
While the group is primarily aimed at adults, children accompanied by parents are welcome. Both Tessa and Sami said they were keen to spread the word on the group and welcome new members of all ages.
In the future, the pair hope new people will come forward to host adventure events that they can advertise on their page to grow the collective even further.
You can find out about upcoming events on the group’s Instagram at @lakesqueeradventures
