The SWAN Trustees have recently met to discuss the future of SWAN after our Chair, Carole Anderson advised she was intending to stand down after 10 years.

SWAN was set up in 2008 to provide a safe and welcoming space for networking for LGBT people from public, private and third sectors at a time when many LGBT people had no options to join employee or similar networks. It offered wide-ranging events where LGBT people across Central Scotland could meet, network, learn and create new connections. In 2015, SWAN became a Charity regulated under Scottish Charity Law to promote inclusivity in Scottish workplaces by hosting business networking events focussed on LGBT people and open to all.

The Covid pandemic and resulting lockdowns created real challenges for meaningful networking, and SWAN took the decision not to move to fully online events. Post-pandemic, we know that the working world has changed for many with home and hybrid-working becoming the norm, which alters our relationships for post-working day city-based gatherings. We have observed also that over time, LGBT people have a range of opportunities to meet and connect within and outwith their work sectors.

For these reasons, the Trustees believe it is now time to dissolve SWAN as a Charity, and to do this we need to follow a set of procedures laid down by OSCR, the Charity Regulator. The first step will be to hold a General Meeting where we will present two special resolutions:

1.       To propose the winding up of the charity
2.       To propose the transfer of SWAN’s financial assets to another LGBT Charity

Please fill in the form below to register for this meeting.

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