Ellen Dean's Role Model Nomination - The Ultimate Planet Awards - Recognising The Passion Behind The Scene

I am delighted to be shortlisted for the

ROLE MODEL AWARD 2015

in the Positive Women Theme 

To cast your vote for me please follow this link Ultimate Planet Awards

Ultimate Planet created the Ultimate Planet Awards to recognise, thank and promote the hard work from dedicated grass roots event organisers and community businesses who are committed to improving the lesbian, bi and queer scene. They are delighted to be able to show the love to all the women who work tirelessly to create a fun, safe, special scene and community for lesbian, bi and queer women in London, Brighton and beyond.

for voting for me ❤️ x

Albert Kennedy Trust Merge with The Outpost Housing Project

As Patron of The Outpost Housing Project Newcastle-upon-Tyne

I am delighted to announce their merger with 

The Albert Kennedy Trust

LGBT youth homeless charities AKT and Outpost merge to sustain and improve services for young people

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) youth homeless charities the Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT) and Outpost Housing are to merge from 8 May 2013 to help meet rising demand and sustain vital services for young people. 

Outpost will continue to operate in the north east and offer support and accommodation to LGBT young people at risk of homelessness. They will be re-named AKT Outpost. 

AKT will continue to offer its range of services for LGBT young people in the north west and London. 

AKT Chief Executive Tim Sigsworth says “AKT and Outpost have a lot in common and by coming together we hope to continue and enhance the level of help and support that LGBT young people at risk of homelessness receive across the north east, north west and in London. Despite ten years of progressive legislation which has enabled young LGBT people to feel more confident to come out at an early age – the reality is that when they do they are still greeted with the same level of homophobia, bi phobia and trans phobia at home or school experienced 24 years ago when AKT was established by Foster Carer Cath Hall. Nationally we are now seeing an increase in demand for our services of around 30% and by sharing our knowledge, expertise and some of our running costs with Outpost we can ensure every penny possible goes directly to support the growing numbers of young people who need our help.”

Chair of The Albert Kennedy Trust, Samantha Days, says “this is a very exciting and crucial step in AKT and Outpost continuing to deliver and develop vital services for LGBT young people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. It will give us the opportunity to explore delivering these services on a national level and continue to alleviate the terrible circumstances some of our young people experience”.

Chair of Outpost Housing, Jim McElderry says “Outpost has received tremendous support in recent years from local funders such as Newcastle City Council and the Northern Rock Foundation but we know if we are going to be able to protect and develop housing support services for LGBT young people in the North East we need to do more.  This merger opens up new funding opportunities for us and means we can now be part of a national campaign for LGBT young people without losing our local identity.” 

Sam, a young person who was helped by Outpost Housing, says “As a young person who ran away from home in Southampton to live in Newcastle; Outpost have been amazing with supporting me with LGBT difficulties. When I heard that they have decided to merge with The Albert Kennedy Trust I was very happy and felt content, especially as it means that in the future if I decide to move from Newcastle I could still receive support and also means I can be happy wherever I live. As the charities have become national, I feel that this provides more options for young people and personalises the service for people like me.”

Leader of Newcastle City Council, Councillor Nick Forbes, says "The voluntary sector faces some big challenges in the current climate so I commend Outpost for using the funding the council gives them to develop a long term business plan that will open up new sources of funding for their service. Newcastle City Council is absolutely committed to tackling all forms of inequality to make Newcastle a warm welcoming city for everyone regardless of their background or sexual orientation."

If you would like to be part of helping AKT build and extend the reach of our services to more LGBT young people facing homelessness please visit www.give15.org  to donate.

About AKT
AKT’s Mission is to ensure that all lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans young people are able to live in accepting, supportive and caring homes, by providing a range of services to meet the individual needs of those who would otherwise be homeless or living in a hostile environment. We aim to do this by:
Providing appropriate homes through supported lodgings, fostering and other specialist housing schemes.
Enabling young people to manage independent living successfully.
Improving attitudes within society towards lesbian, gay and bisexual young people. 
We support several hundred young people every year who have experienced domestic violence or have been ejected from home just for being brave enough to come out as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Trans to their parents or care giver. For more information visit www.akt.org.uk

About Outpost
Outpost offer accommodation for LGBT young people aged 16 to 25 in fully furnished and equipped single person bedsits for a duration of up to 18 months. When young people are ready to move on we help them to find safe and suitable long-term accommodation. Outpost also offers support and advice on matters relating to housing, benefits, education, training and work, living independently, coming out and being out, relationships, emotional health, sexual health, drugs and alcohol. For more information visit www.outpostproject.org.uk

MP Stephen Gilbert visits Outpost Housing Project, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK

It was a pleasure and a privilege for me to meet Stephen Gilbert on Saturday 22nd October 2011 when he visited  Outpost Housing Project the charity of which I am Patron. 

Stephen Gilbert MP and Ellen Dean - Patron

Stephen was impressed to learn that Outpost (established in 1995) helps and supports young people aged between 16 and 25 who identify as LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/trans) and who are either homeless, have a housing need, or are facing discrimination.


Stephen met and talked with some of the young people who have been helped by Outpost and who are now doing very well.

Stephen Gilbert MP, Ellen Dean - Patron, Wendy Hodgson - Service Manager, Graeme Sawyers - Project Worker

Stephen is MP for St. Austell and Newquay and is currently a member of the Select Committee for Communities and Local Government and the chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Housing. He is also one of 22 openly gay MPs in the House of Commons.


In Parliament, Stephen's policy interests include affordable housing and planning policy, as well as international affairs, civil liberties and the environment.


As a point of interest Outpost Housing Project is the only project of its kind in the UK. Stephen is keen to be kept up to date of the happenings with Outpost and I look forward to working with him in this respect.

Ellen Dean

Outpost Housing Project - Newcastle-upon-Tyne UK

I am proud and honoured to be the first Patron of Outpost Housing Project, now Albert Kennedy Trust, based in Jesmond, Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the northeast of England, UK.

The following pictures speak for themselves. 

Please support this project.

Ellen Dean Recommends

Ann Summers party.

Last night I went to a Ann Summers fund raiser party for Breast Cancer Care with my friends Libby and Fiona. What a fun night it was . . . as you can imagine there were plenty of toys with batteries. There were rampant rabbits in all colours even a 'rainbow' one (what a speed they went, in my opinion these are excellent for anybody with arthritis) and sexy lingerie. You'll never guess who modeled the sexy Santa outfit . . . you got it, it was mwah! And didn't I look good ;-)

But it wasn't all batteries and bra's - but hang on . . . perhaps it was.

We played games . . . a lady from each table had to collect specific items i.e. a gold earring, a stiletto, a chocolate willy, and a bra. Libby represented our table and when it came to the bra she whipped hers off quicker than Hyacinth could (from under her top of course). And then she ate the chocolate willy!

Then it was Ruby Diamond's spot - an absolutely fantastic drag comedienne.
Ruby's songs were raunchy, original and performed with great panache - as always. The audience were in total awe and the applause was tremendous.
If you ever get the chance to see Ruby's show, don't miss it.

But on a serious note, the night was well attended and I understand raised a substantial amount of money for the breast cancer charity. And I mustn't forget to mention the tasty supper we enjoyed.

YLAF 2007

A great start to YLAF on Friday night. Sat Nav and I attended the welcome reception at the Holiday Inn, York. Thank you Crin Claxton and your team for such a warm welcome.

We met some of the other authors and artists appearing at the biggest lesbian literary event in the UK. It was good to catch up with Val Lee and Jenny Roberts again, and to finally meet Tricia Walker.
And what happened on the way home? Yes . . . you've guessed it, we got lost!
We were so busy singing along to my friend Loraine's music, that we totally missed our turning and inadvertently ended up in York city centre at 10.30pm - not the best time to be driving through York!

Saturday morning we were up at 6am! Of course there isn't only the two of us to get ready, we had to leave food prepared for the animals - you would think we had five thousand! Don't worry, our lovely friends and neighbours were seeing to them, we didn't expect the animals to have to help themselves buffet service fashion. Do you know if I could only teach the Labrador to open tins himself I could make millions, but I don't know if I could trust him to share though!

We arrived at York Racecourse for the event at about 9.30am so Sat Nav was right on course with directions. Time for a cup of tea, and to meet up with my facilitators in the green room.

My first panel of the day was to discuss 'Characters' with Marianne K. Martin and Jane Fletcher which was expertly chaired by Val Lee. Of course I had to talk about Dr. Hyacinth Dickinson who I'm sure was sitting somewhere in the audience. It was lovely to meet and chat with Marianne and Jane, but Marianne I would ditch the cola 😂

Early afternoon brought the YLAF Players to the stage with their version of True Pride & Prejudice. This was a brilliant performance and went down a storm. Well done to Crin Claxton for penning this and congrats to Stella Duffy for her marvelously inventive ad libbing. You cracked it girl!

My second panel participation was later in the day when Publishing was our topic. I joined Tricia Walker for this panel which was led by Kelly Smith of Bywater Books. We had a small attendance at this one, but everyone was so wanting to be there that the time just flew and we ran well over. Special thanks to Kelly Smith for hanging in there especially when she had a terrible cold and was not feeling well. Hope you're feeling better today Kelly.

Congratulations Tricia on your book Benedict's Brother sales . . . more books had to be sourced as the stock was sold out. Fantastic.

It was also a pleasure to meet up with and chat to Sarah Waters and Stella Duffy - two very talented women whose writing I admire.

Crin - I see that Sat Nav bought your vampire book . . . looking forward to reading that if I can prize it off her!

To all of the people who attended my panels I would like to say a big thank you and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

And finally to Crin again, and this has to be said . . . what an organizer!
You did an excellent job of organizing the whole event and I hope you will continue to do this. The entire team were brilliant, it appeared to run like clockwork. Great stuff.

The photos are Character Panel left to right...Jane Fletcher, VG Lee, Marianne K. Martin and Ellen Dean. The players on stage are Stella Duffy, Semsem Kuherhi and Crin Claxton. And the Publishing panel, Kelly Smith, Tricia Walker and Ellen Dean. And, Marianne chatting with me Ellen Dean.

Supermarket Shop

Well . . . neither of us like shopping - food shopping that is. You know what I mean . . . that totally boring but essential thing that takes up so much time when we could be doing other more exciting things!

Today was no exception 'cos we had to shop for dog food and because we aim to do this only once in a blue moon we buy a mountain of canned dog food when this need arises. Don't worry . . . our precious pooches don't starve! Today we had to stock up their cupboard out of necessity as we are off on the Whisky Trail in Scotland soon and our house-sitters are coming to stay.

So there we were all set ready to wander round like the Stepford Wives . . . boring. But, first, we needed a trolly and I made my selection carefully, or so I thought. Of course I got the only damn one that wouldn't drive forward but kept waltzing to the left . . . it did drive backwards beautifully . . . in a straight line too . . . how bloody useless is that? And it totally beat Sat Nav!

Of course, we managed to find a couple of bargains for us as we drifted through the aisles and fell on a 2 for 1 offer on shredless marmalade . . . too good to miss we agreed and felt almost excited!

At the checkout we joined the queue and Sat Nav counted the tins of Chappie in our trolley ready for the cashier. We know that it is much easier to count them and pass one across to be scanned although they always look bemused at the quantity. Today we had a selection of other dog food too.

The young cashier said, obviously trying to be friendly, 'Your dogs are eating better than you!'

'Oh no,' I replied (I couldn't help myself ha ha), 'we're making curry.'

'Oh that's nice,' came a very solemn reply . . . and then she froze and stared at me.

Of course I was laughing, 'Only joking.' I said.

'I can't believe I fell for that one.' She laughed, no she actually beamed, and it was good to know that we'd brightened her day.

In fact she laughed all of the time she was scanning the rest of our shopping through.

And then just as we were walking away, Sat Nav, being a sometimes sociable woman smiled sweetly and invited her round for a curry when she'd finished work . . . . . .