A GROUP which offers support and advice to parents whose children have come out as gay could be coming to Bolton.

The Manchester Parents Group is holding an open meeting at The Hub in Bold Street on Saturday to see if there was enough demand for the group in the town.

It is a voluntary organisation that supports families and friends of people who are lesbian, gay or bisexual.

Barbara Spence, of the Manchester Parents Group, said: “We have decided to try and get a group going in Bolton and to do that we have decided to put on this event to see if there was the demand to set one up.

“At the moment we are just based in Manchester, but we have had the creation of Bolton Pride and its amazing work for the LGBT community.

“It is all for the parents. We are all parents ourselves who have had children come out and it can be quite a difficult thing for some parents to understand when their son or daughter comes out as gay.

“We support them by offering them a friendly ear and talk them through any questions they may have.”

The group is made up of parents of gay children who all accept their sexuality but understand some can find it difficulty.

They aim to help out with some of the “confusion and questions” that some may have when they first find out that their child is gay.

The Manchester Parents Group was formed in 1986 when a parent rang a helpline when her son came out to her as gay at the age of 13.

She spoke to another parent who had a gay son and was told about the Gay Youth Group in Manchester, where both parents began working.

The Manchester Parents Group grew from this after young people asked for help coming out to their parents.

The group currently meets every month in central Manchester as an informal support group.

It also runs telephone help lines, campaigns for acceptance, justice and equality to all the children, educates other organisations and works with the media on issues surrounding homosexuality.

The meeting at The Hub in Bold Street will take place on Saturday at 11am.

Those who need support from the group’s phone line should call 0845 652 2674.

Or for more information about the support that is offered, go to manpg.co.uk