Building inclusive, alcohol-free social spaces with QuTo
Posted: 21 June 2021, in News
QuTo is an upcoming queer sober space opening soon in Glasgow. We’ll be an alcohol-free venue that serves quality food and drink, showcases and sells local products and hosts entertainment events.
The organisation is founded on solidarity, accessibility and inclusion. Our mission is to work with other local artists and businesses to offer an affordable addition to the bustling social and cultural life of Glasgow.
Our aim is to provide a safe, late-opening space for our LGBTQ+ community. Although there are many queer pubs/venues in Glasgow, very few are free of alcohol and cater to those who feel unable to access mainstream venues because of disability, discrimination or other reasons. We hope that QuTo will provide this much-needed accessible venue.
The plan is to host a range of regular and one-off events to showcase queer talent, especially of people who are marginalised in our community such as trans people, queer people of colour and disabled queer people. We are also keen to engage with all members of the community and to ensure QuTo is a safe and welcoming space for people from all walks of life.
We run a zero-tolerance policy against any form of harassment or discrimination and this is a very important part of our ethos. Our vision is that our customers feel celebrated in an inclusive space free of the pressure to consume alcohol or substances.
Like many, over the last year our plans have been delayed by Covid. We have spent this time organising online events and remaining engaged with our community via social media. We are currently raising funds to help us secure premises and for start-up costs. We happily accept any and all donations made via our GoFundMe and our goal is to reach £2,500 – can you help?
We hope to reach this goal over the coming months and hopefully be up and running towards the end of 2021, all going well in the world! We would also appreciate anyone interested in our mission sharing our Gofundme posts on social media channels.
So far, we have hosted some online events including a Zoom night for Valentine’s Day hosted by the wonderful Lady Rampant and late last year we were lucky enough to be able to host a socially distanced pop up event at Patricia’s Coffee Bar on Victoria Road.
We were really privileged to work with local queer artists to hold workshops, spoken word events and also to sell their art, as well as to support other social enterprises which sell alcohol-free drinks. After the first wave of lockdown, our pop-up event was really positively received by our community!
We have also just launched our own radio show with Subcity Radio which aired on the 8 of May. We plan to have one of these shows every month which will aim to promote and showcase various local queer artists as well as entertainment from our own board members.
To keep up to date with our work or to get in touch for collaborations, follow us on social media with the handle @QuToGlasgow, visit our website at quto.co.uk or contact us at hello@quto.co.uk
Georgios Pappas, Founder of QuTo Glasgow