Other outdoor sports
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- Caving
- Climbing
- Cycling
- Golf
- The Gay Outdoor Club
- Mountaineering
- Outdoor Lads
- Running
- Walking (Activity Groups)
Caving
Gay Outdoor Club - Caving
The Gay Outdoor Club caving group caters for cavers at all levels of skill. While it operates from time to time at top international level, it also offers the opportunity for novice cavers to try the sport for the first time. Activities range from international cave exploration and regular visits for fully-trained cavers to the best caves in the UK to a focus on general caving skills for the inexperienced. As a member of the British Caving Association, the group is able to get permits for caves in all the major areas in the UK, and there are visits to caves in England and Wales about every six weeks. The group has access to facilities for indoor training in single rope technique, and can arrange sessions for members of the group to learn or to improve their skills in a safe, warm, environment, complete with café.
For details see the main Gay Outdoor Club details or visit www.goc.org.uk/Activities/Caving.htm
Climbing
Gay Outdoor Club - Climbing
The Gay Outdoor Club climbing group operates across the whole country. Events may be visits to indoor climbing walls or weekend trips to the crags, quarries, sea-cliffs and mountains of the UK. Overseas trips are also organised, such as the French Alps and a sport climbing trip to Spain. Participants may be at any standard. Typically, they are between 'severe' and 'hard very severe' but there is plenty of scope for real rock tigers, for beginners, and for those for whom climbing is an indoor, gym-type activity, not anything outdoor at all!
For details see the main Gay Outdoor Club details or visit www.goc.org.uk/Activities/Climbing.htm
Not So Trad
Not So Trad, Southern Lesbian & Gay Climbers are a gay and lesbian climbing club,
largely based in London but with members spread across the south of England.
It is a very friendly group of climbers of all ages, grades and aspirations. The group is mixed; at the moment there are as many women as men. The club welcomes all gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender climbers and their friends to enjoy climbing in a fun and friendly atmosphere and to progress in the sport.
The club's main meet is weekly at The Castle climbing wall in North London. This is followed by a swift social in the local pub. As well as its regular indoor meetings, Not So Trad have a program of weekend or longer trips each year including Portland, Wales, Lake District, Cornwall, Peak District as well as at least one international trip.
| Email: | phillipe@notsotrad.org |
|---|---|
| Website: | www.notsotrad.org |
| Gender: | Mixed |
| When: | Email for details |
| Where: | Email for details |
| Beginners welcome: | Yes |
Cycling
Cycle Out
Cycle Out is a gay cycling club open to all ages, with a programme of cycling events
centred on London and South East England. While its day rides are planned in areas
within easy reach of London, throughout the year a number of weekend or longer trips
take place in locations across the rest of the UK and indeed Europe. With this in
mind, the club welcomes members not only from the London area, but from the whole of the
country.
With bikes ranging from MTBs (mountain bikes) to tourers and folding bikes somewhere in the middle, they aim to provide a mixed programme, incorporating on-road cycling (from gentle day rides to grand tours) and mountain biking off-road (from cycle tracks and towpaths to treks in the hills and forests).
| Telephone: | Peter on 020 8747 4640 or 07971 704 206 |
|---|---|
| Email: | info@cycleout.org.uk |
| Website: | www.cycleout.org.uk |
| Gender: | Male |
| When: | Email or phone for details |
| Where: | Email or phone for details |
| Beginners welcome: | Yes |
Gay Outdoor Club - Cycling
The Gay Outdoor Club organise regular cycle rides throughout the country, both on and off road. From a leisurely day tour with a stop for lunch (and sometimes tea) to a mountain biking expedition across the hills, there are events for every ability. The organisation also co-promotes a number of events with other groups to make cycling available to even more people.
For details see the main Gay Outdoor Club details or visit www.goc.org.uk/Activities/Cycling.htm
Golf
Irons Golf Club
Irons is a friendly society of gay golfers who meet about once a month between
March and October for a round of golf. There are about 60 members who generally play
at golf courses in southeast England but each year there are two or three 'tours'
and this year visits are being made to the West Country, Wales, France and Lincolnshire.
Golfers with handicaps lower than 36 are welcome, and Irons is unable to accommodate
complete beginners.
Members vary in skill, having handicaps ranging from 36 down to 4. Each year there is a society knockout matchplay competition in addition to the normal events. These matches can be played at the organised events although entrants are free to organise their own venue and day of play. A number of trophies are awarded annually for various competitions.
| Email: | members@ironsgolf.org.uk |
|---|---|
| Website: | www.ironsgolf.org.uk |
| Gender: | Mixed |
| When: | Email for details |
| Where: | Email for details |
| How much: | Email for details |
| Beginners welcome: | No |
The Gay Outdoor Club
The Gay Outdoor Club (GOC) is the largest lesbian and gay outdoors organisation outside of the USA and it organises over 400 walks per year plus a host of other activities. To many of its members, GOC is more than just a walking group – they have found enduring friendships and the opportunity to get out and do events that they otherwise wouldn’t have had the chance to.
GOC has local groups in every part of
Great Britain which organise regular walks, cycle rides, weekends away and
social events so no-one is far from a GOC event. For more specialist activities
there are groups for climbing, mountaineering, canoeing, kayaking and caving
which organise trips; some of those events are for people with experience,
but there are also events for novices.
GOC regularly organise longer events such as an arctic adventure and a white water rafting expedition. The professional standard newsletter keeps members informed of all of the activities, any of which can be attended regardless of where you live. You don’t have to be fit or sporty for most of the activities (GOC has a number of disabled members) you just have to love the outdoors.
| Telephone: | 08448 700462 |
|---|---|
| Email: | info@goc.org.uk |
| Website: | www.goc.org.uk |
| Address: | BM GOC, London, WC1N 3XX |
| Gender: | Mixed |
| When: | Email or phone for details |
| Where: | Email or phone for details |
| How much: | £19 (joint), £14 (single) per year |
| Beginners welome: | Yes |
Mountaineering
Gay Outdoor Club - Mountaineering
The Gay Outdoor Club mountaineering group organises an adventurous programme, including not only Munro-bashing trips to Scotland but also mountain-biking weekends and plenty of scrambling. There is normally a weekend trip once a month throughout the year. Many of these are camping trips, some involve the use of bothies or huts and others use a Youth Hostel or bunkhouse. Trips to the Inner and Outer Hebrides are popular, as are trips to other parts of the UK and abroad, for instance to the Alps, to the Toubkal area in Morocco and a trek across Iceland.
In the main, members of the mountaineering group are of medium ability. Members would normally have encountered some hillwalking in local groups before embarking on anything organised by the mountaineering group, or have experience outside of GOC, so that they will come to the group fully equipped and with a reasonable understanding of the hazards involved in the activity.
For details see the main Gay Outdoor Club details or visit www.goc.org.uk/Activities/Mountaineering.htm
Outdoor Lads
Outdoor Lads is a group where gay or bi or curious lads get together to enjoy outdoor activities.
It works like a switchboard that links lads who like outdoor pursuits. People can post their
own events on the events section and then people can sign up to that event. All events are
checked before they're posted onto the site just to make sure they're properly organised and
that they're the kind of events the group is looking for.
The group engages in all outdoor pursuits. Every month there's at least one big event where the group camps for two nights and does a number of activities over the weekend. In the past the group has done caving, kayaking, climbing and abseiling.
To date the core range of lads is around 18-35 but there are several older people who come on the trips. It's mostly gay and bi lads, with a couple of gay friendly straight lads. Some are bored of the same old thing and fancy doing something different, or have a love for outdoor pursuits and would like to meet others who do too.
With some activities you have to really love the outdoors or the adventure to enjoy it. But the group has more leisurely walking weekends for those who just fancy a different way to socialise or just want to see what it's about.
The group normally goes walking and then visits a pub. People make a genuine effort to make new people on trips feel at home and people always remark on how worried they were at first but how they settled in really quickly.
Outdoor Lads is free to join but members are asked for donations to cover the cost of the site.
| Telephone: | 01614 087 557 |
|---|---|
| Email: | support@outdoorlads.com |
| Website: | www.outdoorlads.com |
| Gender: | Male |
| When: | Visit the website or phone for details |
| Where: | Visit the website or phone for details |
| Beginners welcome: | Yes |
Running
London FrontRunners
London FrontRunners is a club for gay men and lesbians who enjoy running and want to
train, run and race as part of a group. The club was founded in 1995 and has a membership
of over 200 members. Most of the regular runs have between ten and 50 participants.
The club trains on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays in the parks of Central London. Shower and changing facilities are provided. There is also a lively social events calendar. FrontRunners cater for all from beginners to elite athletes. Details of all training sessions, social events and the annual Pride Run are on the club's website. London FrontRunners is affiliated to the South of England Athletics Association (SEAA) and England Athletics.
| Telephone: | Graham or Helen on 07092 346340 |
|---|---|
| Email: | info@londonfrontrunners.org |
| Website: | www.londonfrontrunners.org |
| Address: | BM London FrontRunners, London WC1N 3XX |
| Gender: | Mixed |
| When: | See website for details |
| Where: | See website for details |
| How much: | Annual membership from the 1st June costs £25; £20 after 31 August; £15 after 30 November; £10 after 28 February |
| Beginners welcome: | Yes |
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