LGBTQ board game group 'a supportive space'

People come together once a month to for the Jersey Liberate group event

A board game group for the LGBTQ community has created a "supportive space" for its members, one of the group has said.

The equality charity Liberate started the group in February and gets together once a month.

It is a space for people to socialise and have fun with others from similar backgrounds.

Organisers and players said it had been "so much fun".

Carla Jardim wants the group to give members of the LGBTQ community a safe space to socialise

Carla Jardim - a volunteer for Liberate Jersey - came up with the idea for the group and helps organise the meetings as life in the island "can be quite lonely".

She said: "What we wanted was a kind of friendly welcoming inclusive space for LGBTQ people and their allies".

"It's nice to know that at least once a month for a couple of hours we've got somewhere where we can turn up, be ourselves, be in that supportive space and just have a bit of a laugh."

The group meets at the Salvation Army café in Minden Place to play a variety of board games.

Sam Julé said the group gives him a chance to socialise in person

Sam Julé has attended many of the group nights and has found it to be a positive experience.

He said: "We're all fairly like-minded and I find it can be quite hard these days to actually get out and do things.

"I like to have the odd drink, but I'm not a huge fan of very loud music or being social the whole night so being able to just come here and sit down is really nice."

He added: "It's not always very visible when there's people who are like you on the island. Being able to come somewhere where people are meeting and they all share these sorts of similar values is really, really great".