Dugan Cummings

THE incredible evolution of an LGBT charity has been recalled by its longest-serving volunteer – as it plans to celebrate its milestone 50th birthday.

Dugan Cummings joined London Friend 42 years ago, when the charity was still based at its old headquarters in Upper Street, before rent rises forced it to move to Caledonian Road.

It gave gay and lesbian people a helpline for support and provided a place to socialise and make friends.

Recalling his time on the phone lines, Mr Cummings, who volunteered two to three nights a week, said he spoke to people in desperate personal situations and fearing the consequences of coming out.

He recalled a heartbreaking phone call from a married man who had realised he was gay later in life and subsequently embarked on a secret relationship.

“He and a man became so close and it was such a vital part of his life – he was even able to introduce this man to his wife as a friend,” he said.

“And then, very suddenly, this man died… and how could he mourn?”

Mr Cummings’s advice? He told the man as he had kept it a secret he would likely have to mourn in secret, but he could always call Mr Cummings should he need support.

His own journey began at the age of 20 in Zimbabwe, then called South Rhodesia, in Africa, where homosexuality was entirely hidden.

In 1968 he moved into a house just behind Highbury Fields, which he went on to buy with his partner of 23 years, who sadly died from AIDS. He lives there to this day, with his husband of 14 years.

Later becoming a civil servant, he worked at a benefits office, first in Upper Holloway and later in Archway. Because so many people in his office were gay – being an openly gay manager appealed to other gay people, he suspected – it became known in-house as the ‘Pink Palace’, he joked.

Slowly, gay rights became law, and peoples’ need for a helpline also changed, and in 2000 the phone lines closed.

It had been decided that callers would be better off being referred to Mind, the mental health charity.

“The calls about coming out had almost entirely stopped,” Mr Cummings recalled, as they began to be more about mental health issues and it was just incidental they were gay.

Now, the charity offers counselling and support.

“It was started to help people coming out as gay and times have moved on and this is no longer the problem,” said Mr Cummings. “London Friend didn’t get stuck in that groove. It looked around for other things that needed to be done.”

Under his chairmanship London Friend gained its charitable status, which made an enormous financial difference to the centre, and gained the keys to the Caledonian Road office.

London Friend are now organising a series of events to mark their 50th birthday, including celebrating 50 LGBTQ ‘inspiring Londoners’.

Of Mr Cummings, they said: “He is our longest-standing volunteer (42 years and counting!) who has offered his invaluable support to London Friend and our LGBTQ+ community since 1980.

“His immense contributions span over four decades from working on our helpline and being our chair, when he oversaw the moving to London Friend’s current premises at 86 Caledonian Road, to supporting our finance team with day to day banking.

“He is always on the lookout for innovative ways to help our city’s LGBTQ people and keep up to date with trends and news in the community.”