We are a lived experience community of LGBTQ+ refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK. 🧡
17/03/2026
Sharing what our brilliant community of members have said about us ♥️📣
If you’re new here, we are - a small grassroots charity supporting LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers. We’re based in London, but support members from all over the UK.
We are member-led, community-driven, inclusive and collaborative. We’re led by a team with lived experience of being a refugee, who have been through the asylum process themselves.
If you can support our vital work, the link to donate is in our bio! ❤️🧡
Send us a DM or email if you’d like to join our community - we meet twice a month in London.
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
13/01/2026
Happy New Year to all of our members, followers, volunteers and Ambassadors! ♥️🥳
As we kick off 2026 full of hope, we’re sharing photos from our end of year party and a message from our CEO, Thelma:
“This year has been one of the most challenging years yet, but with support from our incredible community we’ve pulled through.
All of us are wishing for a kinder year next year.”
The biggest thank you for supporting our community of + refugees and asylum seekers in 2025. As we head into the new year, your support is more important than ever 🫂🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
05/12/2025
We had a great time last month celebrating Islington’s Volunteers of the Year 2025 !
Our Lead Ambassador, Friday, won Older Volunteer of the Year - he travels all the way from Cardiff twice a month to support our community of + refugees and asylum seekers, providing vital moral support ❤️🫂
We’re also SO proud of Muhammad and Noeline for being highly commended in the Young Volunteer of the Year category, we’re so lucky to have you both as members and Ambassadors! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
When our members join us, they often stay in touch - keeping an active role in supporting other members and advocating for our community. A massive thank you to you all!
To learn more about our community, follow the link in our bio.
04/12/2025
Last month, we had the absolute pleasure of celebrating the 10th birthday of our partner organisation ! ❤️🧡💜💙💛💚
Our founder, Aloysius Ssali, shared his story and our work with + refugees with the audience at the Royal Albert Hall - and was introduced by the wonderful and ! Our members were there to cheer him on 📣🥳
If you were there and want to learn more about our work, head to the link in our bio 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
28/11/2025
Sharing photos from our October members’ meetings! 💬🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
We meet up twice a month in London - it’s vital for connecting our community of + refugees and asylum seekers. As it gets darker and colder outside, community is more important than ever!
At these sessions, we share stories, offer support to one another and make friends.
Our meetings are always free to attend, with travel support available for those who need it. If you’d like to join us, just reach out via DM or the link in our bio.
Thank you to everyone who joined us last month! ❤️🧡
30/10/2025
Every week, we run a series of free English classes for our community of + refugees, helping members to improve their English skills and meet new friends.📚
Learning English is an important part of the journey to integrate into the UK and it gives members the tools they need to advocate for themselves. It’s also a vital way for our members to build their confidence to feel at home!
We’re committed to always keeping these classes free to attend! If you can support us, the link to donate is in our bio 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🧡
05/10/2025
Snapshots of our September social!
❤️🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Twice a month, our community of + refugees and asylum seekers can attend our members meeting in London - one social meeting and one educational workshop.
Having these meetings is an important part of how we build our community, and provide support for each other. It’s also a great chance to socialise to reduce loneliness and isolation.
If you’d like to join us for our October meetings, please get in touch via the information in our bio. Meetings are always free to attend, and new members are always welcome.
As the days get shorter, community connections is more important than ever!
If you can support us in keeping these meetings free for our members to attend, the link to donate is in our bio ❤️ Every bit of support is so appreciated!
✨
03/10/2025
Happy to share that Oday, one of our members from Jordan, has had his refugee status granted! 🥳🏳️🌈
Oday arrived in the UK last year, and his journey to getting his status took around a year.
The + community in Jordan faces discrimination, and has been the target of recent cybercrime and morality laws.
Now he’s got his status in the UK, Oday’s ready to “start his new life”.
Huge congratulations, Oday! We can’t wait to see what you do next 💚
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
12/09/2025
Sharing moments from our August members’ social! 🌈
Every month, Say It Loud Club hosts two members meetings for our community of + refugees and asylum seekers - a social and a workshop.
Having a safe space to meet, socialise and share our stories is a vital way that we build our community.
If you’d like to join us for our September meetings, get in touch via the link in our bio or send us a DM.
As we head into Autumn, it’s more important than ever to keep meeting up as a community.
We’re committed to ALWAYS keeping our meetings free for members to attend - if you’re able to support us, head to the link in our bio.
21/08/2025
For this month’s , we’re hearing from Christelle Fallonne, a proud le***an and Say It Loud Club member from Cameroon 🏳️🌈💚💛❤️
“Keep looking ahead, despite the winds and tides. Today may be bad, but tomorrow will be beautiful. Believe in yourself and above all, don’t give up!”
Thank you, Fallonne! 🌟
19/08/2025
Some brilliant news to share with our community today - Christopher has had his refugee status granted! 🥳🏳️🌈
You may remember Christopher from his story.
He’s a proud gay man from Nigeria, where there are no legal protections for + people, and same-sex relationships are criminalised.
He’s been waiting for his status to be granted and it was a “long emotional wait”.
Before their status is granted, our members cannot work, study or even rent a place to live while they wait for a decision.
Huge congratulations, Christopher - and best of luck with teaching!
Drop a message of celebration for him in the comments below 🧡
15/08/2025
We had an incredible time at this year’s UK Black Pride🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Last weekend, our members and Ambassadors joined thousands of people celebrating 20 years of UK Black Pride in the sun!✨
We danced, watched performances, celebrated our community and celebrated our ❤️🌞
Thanks to everyone who stopped by at our stall and helped to make our day unforgettable!
The keeps on going – if you can support our work, the link to donate is in our bio.
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Aloysius Ssali first set up Say It Loud Club to campaign for LGBTQ+ rights as a student in Uganda in 1994. By 2003, he had become well known enough to be a target, and decided to come to the UK to continue with his Studies.
When he returned to Uganda in 2005, he was captured and tortured - just because of his sexuality. He still had six months left on his student visa, so he fled to the UK.
The UK didn't formally recognise sexuality as a reason for claiming refugee status until 2010, so Aloysius was forced to live without papers for five years. In 2010, he successfully claimed refugee status.
Newly arrived LGBTQ+ refugees have overcome incredible challenges for the chance to call the UK their home. Seeing that there was a huge lack of support for LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers, Aloysius decided to found Say It Loud Club in the UK in 2010. Since then, the organisation has helped hundreds of LGBTQ+ refugees to successfully gain the right to live freely in the UK. Without his help many would have had to return to their home countries where they had faced discrimination, violence and even fear of death. He has also built a network which helps its members come to terms with their own sexuality and find a community and support system in the UK.
For years, he ran Say It Loud out of his own pocket, working as a nurse to support himself and the growing the Say It Loud community. In 2018, with the support of Help Refugees, Aloysius is now able to work full-time to help LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers for the next year.
Whilst Aloysius is doing everything he can to support the 200+ members currently in the Say it Loud Club community, we need your help to do more. Only 1 in 4 people who apply for asylum on the basis of their sexuality are granted status in this country often because they don’t have the legal representation to build their claim successfully. Say it Loud Club needs your help to get legal aid, advocacy and support to those who need it most.
