gay-heritage LGBTQ+ Friendly

London Friend

Name: London Friend
Address: 86 Caledonian Road, Kings Cross, London N1 9DN, UK, London, GB
Telephone: +44 20 7833 1674
Rating: 4.4

Historic Venue 1971 Still active

UK's oldest LGBTQ+ counselling charity — a 1971 Gay Liberation Front splinter, operating continuously from Kings Cross for over 50 years.

GayOut (2) 3.5

Google (21) 4.4

Tripadvisor (1028) 4.4

What reviewers say

Visitors often praise London Friend as a life-changing, safe, and welcoming place offering support with dignity and compassion. However, some reviewers found the service useless and a waste of time, while others experienced disappointment with events being closed without notice.

/ 100

GayOut Score

3.5 G4.4 🦉4.4

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Address

86 Caledonian Road, Kings Cross, London N1 9DN, UK

📞

Phone

+44 20 7833 1674

🌐

Website

londonfriend.org.uk

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About this place London Friend

The London Friend was founded in 1971 as a splinter of the Gay Liberation Front, aiming to provide non-political peer counselling to men and women (and, from the late 1980s, trans people) who were coming out or in distress. It is the oldest LGBTQ+ counselling and support organisation in the UK and one of the oldest anywhere; it has operated continuously for 54 years. The organisation runs face-to-face counselling in Kings Cross, phone and email support lines, drug and alcohol support (the Antidote programme, launched in 1997), women's services (Kite programme), trans peer groups, and a range of social meet-ups. It is fully accredited as a counselling institution and largely funded by NHS commissioning and public donations; all services are free to users. Since 1985 London Friend has occupied a nineteenth-century townhouse at 86 Caledonian Road, five minutes north of Kings Cross station. The building — small, four floors, a garden — hosts twelve counselling rooms and the organisation's modest administrative office. The scale is deliberately domestic; the counselling model is home-scale, not clinical. Open Monday-Friday 09:00-21:00 for drop-in reception; counselling and support-line schedules vary. Full details at londonfriend.org.uk. Not primarily a museum stop but a living LGBTQ+ institution whose 54 years of continuous operation is the heritage. Kings Cross Underground is 400 metres south.

Upcoming events at London Friend

Sat, Sep 12

Queer Chess Club at London Friend

7:00 PM

Features

LGBTQ+ Safe space Community oriented Multilingual staff Walk-ins welcome

Insider Tips

Community Reviews

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Google Reviews

Verified by Google

4.4

★★★★★

21 reviews

Based on 21 Google reviews.

Sy Pham Nov 2025

★★★★★

Hello, I'm a gay man, I'm currently in England, I'm a victim of modern slavery and human trafficking, I'm lucky to escape and be helped by good people, now I'm very sad and sometimes I want to die, I really need you right now, I'm psychologically unstable, please help me, thank you very much

Sy Pham Nov 2025

★★★★★

Daniel Johnson Aug 2025

★★★★★

Hi my name is Daniel I'm 20 yeas old are from Liberia west Africa

Daniel Johnson Aug 2025

★★★★★

Hi my name is Daniel I'm 20 yeas old are from Liberia west Africa

Karol P. Jul 2024

★★★★★

Absolutely useless service. Had one counselling session and had to cancel as it was just a waste of time and money. They won't help me. I would be better off talking to a dog and that would probably made me feel better than talking to them.

Karol P. Jul 2024

★★★★★