SPORTS GROUPS: OutdoorLads

OutdoorLads is a charity aimed at supporting the mental and physical health of gay, bi and trans men.

They organise hiking, camping, climbing, hostelling, biking, canoeing, sailing and skiing events – as well as one-off international trips and more hard-core challenge events.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a total beginner or a well-hardened outdoor enthusiast, they have something for everyone, each week, all over the UK. Whatever the event you’ll find a group of friendly, welcoming guys with a shared love of the outdoors.

OutdoorLads are the biggest social group for gay and bi guys who like the outdoors in the UK. They put together over 1,000 events each year with the help of nearly 200 volunteer Event Leaders, and have the highest concentration of events and members here in the South East with weekend day walks and climbing/bouldering taking place every week.

They also run a huge range of hostel and camping weekends all over the place so you can get away for the weekend, get some fresh air, do some activities and make some new friends. Their next ‘Big Spring Camp 2016’ which will have over 300 attendees and lots of activities is taking place over the late May bank holiday and is booking up fast. They plan and organise it all for you, you just have to book up and turn up, all of their Event Leaders are trained and assessed to look after you on your particular event.

This year marks OutdoorLads 10th Birthday, and they have just gone from strength to strength, with 1,000’s of people using their site and with over a 1,000 events taking place every year you will be sure to find an event near you.

To search for events in and around Brighton just go to odl.to/Brighton for the latest list.

If you are not sure what you want to try first you can create a profile at www.outdoorlads.com explore the site and see what takes your fancy!

You get 6 weeks’ free trial membership when you first sign up so you can go on a day walk for free and see what it is all about and meet some like-minded people.

They also run a range of social evenings which are a bit more relaxed and usually involve a bar/pub where you can chat to members and find out what’s coming and how to get involved.