1995 – The MESMEN Project
The Mesmen project was established in 1995 to provide free and confidential HIV prevention and sexual health promotion services to men who have sex with men in South Staffordshire. The project name, MESMEN, later styled as Mesmen, is derived from Men who have Sex With Men.
The project premises were based in Wiltell Lodge on the outskirts of Lichfield. At the time the project was established there were no established gay community venues and the initial focus of the project was outreach work in public sex environments – the public toilets, parks and other places where men were meeting to have sex.
As the project progressed it initiated social meetings at local venues, and developed more services including a group for young LGBT+ people, a Trans group and a Married Mens group. Outreach services continued in public sex environments but also expanded to include outreach services in internet chat rooms and in saunas and LGBT+ scene venues neighbouring South Staffordshire. The project also undertook prison visiting services and in 2009 published a substantial piece of research into HIV and blood borne virus transmission in Staffordshire prisons.
Police liaison was an important part of ensuring the safety of outreach workers but the project also needed to maintain appropriate distance from the police, particularly in the earlier years, when widespread targeting of gay men continued. Police relations improved as the police adopted progressive policies on hate crime and LGBT+ employment rights.
In 2009 the project rebranded as “Staffordshire Buddies Health Promotion”. As funding for community based sexual health promotion reduced, the project shrank and eventually ceased to occupy its own premises in South Staffordshire. Staffordshire Buddies continued to provide HIV prevention and sexual health promotion services and in 2022 relaunched itself as the Staffordshire Sexual Health Charity.
The photos below have all appeared in annual reports and newsletters published in the public domain.
Read More …
Follow this link to read How the MESMEN Project Started
Read about the early years of the MESMEN project in the Staffordshire Buddies Tenth Year Anniversary History Book
Scroll down this page to read more about the diverse activities of the MESMEN project
Outreach Services
When the Mesmen project started in 1995 there were no commercial gay scene venues in South Staffordshire. The main ways that men were meeting for sex in the area was by “cottaging” in public toilets and “cruising” in outdoor spaces such as parks, laybys and other public spaces. Mesmen project outreach workers and volunteers visited these sites to give out sexual health information and free condoms.
Outreach activities were later extended to commercial gay venues in neighbouring areas including a gay sauna in Walsall as these were being used by men from South Staffordshire. Outreach services were later developed online as gay dating apps and chat rooms came into widespread use.
An article in the Mesmen magazine published in 2006 discussed the decline of cottaging and cruising as scene and internet based activity increased.
Social Meetings
The lack of a commercial LGBT scene in most parts of South Staffordshire presented significant challenges in trying to reach gay and bisexual men with health promotion messages. In 1998 The project initiated LGBT social meetings at a local venue. This was widely advertised in the local press, the advertisement opposite appeared on multiple occasions in the Rugeley Mercury, Lichfield Mercury and Tamworth Herald.
A second monthly social meeting was established soon after in Stafford. In the Staffordshire Buddies 1999 Annual Report the project recorded having reached 129 people via the two new social venues in Tamworth and Stafford. The social meetings were inclusive of all LGBT+ community members.
In later years the project undertook outreach at various gay and gay friendly venues. In 2006 the project was supporting work in three venues, The Appleby in Green Street, Burton; Vision in Mill Street, Stafford and U- Bar in Church Street, Cannock.
Police Liaison
The Mesmen project liaised with police to help ensure that staff and volunteers were not arrested in in a public area where men were meeting for sex. Outreach workers carried ID badges that would be recognised and respected in the event of police activity. The Mesmen project never gave information to the police about the sites men were using and the police were treated with suspicion due to their past bad relations with the gay community.
By 1998 the police were working towards being more supportive to the LGBT community and launched a campaign to encourage the reporting of homophobic and transphobic hate crimes. The Mesmen project supported the reporting of hate crimes while maintaining a distance from the police to avoid any perception of police collusion. Over time, relations with the police improved.
SPACE LGBTQ+ Youth Groups
In early 1999 a young man in Burton committed suicide. This was widely reported in the press and was partly blamed on homophobic bullying. The Mesmen project worked with the local Health promotion team and the LEA to get project support services into schools for young people and to support LGBT+ teachers.
In 2001 Staffordshire Buddies Mesmen undertook a research project looking at local youth workers experience of supporting LGBT young people.
In 2003 Mesmen piloted a project in Lichfield for young LGBT people called SPACE, which had financial support from the Local Network Fund for Children & Young People. In 2004 Connexions agreed to provide ongoing support for this project, and this support was renewed in 2005.
SPACE LGBTQ youth groups were initially run at Mesmen premises in Lichfield and at Swinfen Hall Young Offenders Institute. In January 2006 a new SPACE group was launched in conjunction with Burton College.
SPACE offered regular group meetings, one to one support and occasional residential “outward bound” retreats. Young LGBTQ people were provided with peer support, social opportunities, and health information. The group worked holistically to support issues around identity, mental health and choices about “coming out” to friends and family.
In 2010 Staffordshire Buddies Health Promotion Team in conjunction with Staffordshire Youth Service, brought together a group of 11 young people to successfully launch a Staffordshire wide LGBTQ Youth Forum.
MMG – Married Men’s Group
A significant number of the men who have sex with men being helped by the project were also in long term relationships with women. Many of these men did not identify as gay or bisexual. A Married Men’s Group was established in 1999 to help support men in this situation and to promote HIV Prevention and sexual health promotion.
In October 2005 the Married Men’s Group (MMG) was re-launched as a programmatic model run over 12 weekly sessions. This enabled the group to regularly re-launch with new participants, a strategy that became necessary due to the number of married men that needed support.
TV/TS Group
A regular group meeting for Trans people was established as part of the Mesmen project’s inclusive approach to working with the LGBT+ community. This group met at the Lichfield premises.
Staffordshire Prisons
Staffordshire Buddies supported Health Promotion to train prison staff about HIV prevention and provided support for LGBT+ people in prison in the mid 1990s.
The Mesmen project developed prison visiting services for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men who were in prison. A substantial piece of research was undertaken to highlight issues around the risks of transmission of HIV and other blood borne viruses. A research report was published in 2009 and presented at the 13th Annual National CHAPS Conference in Sheffield.
LGBT South Staffordshire
In 2010 “LGBT South Staffordshire” was adopted as the name for social meetings and other support work with the LGBT+ community. This later evolved into an independent community led group called “Diversity” which is still active.
Sexwize
Around 2012, Sexwize became the new name for outreach services providing sexual health information to men meeting for sex in public places, scene venues and through online internet chat and apps..
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