The White Collar Club is Yorkshire's networking group for lesbian, gay and bi professionals.  

The WCC was launched in the September of 2009 and now has a membership base of several hundred professionals across the region.  Members come from a variety of sectors and levels; and everybody is welcome to attend events.

The club run events every other month or so and aim to provide a safe space for our members to make friends and meet contacts. GayLeeds.com met the White Collar Club committee.

Mathew Whiteley is the club’s Membership and Communications Rep. Mathew is a contentious construction law solicitor at Beachcroft LLP:

“I mostly defend construction professionals (architects and surveyors, for example) who are being sued if something goes wrong with a development.  I'm also on the LGBT committee, 'Spectrum', at work, which allows me to get involved in the business development/policy side of the firm”

Outside of work, Mathew enjoys going to the gym and spending time with friends - “Sela Bar, Sandinistas and of course, Viaduct!” He also loves food - “especially when it's cooked by other people!”

Carly Elliott heads up women’s membership for the club:

“I encourage women’s participation in what is typically a male dominated arena.  I also work to make sure that everything that the WCC offers has universal appeal to both our male and female members”

 Outside of the club, Carly is a youth worker for a charity in Leeds called Re'new,  working with 16-25 year olds, and assisting them to live independently within the community:

“My role mainly centres around their housing needs, but I also get involved in other issues such as debt, employment and health.  I also run participation workshops; this helps with confidence building and helps clients to gain some self worth”

Communications for the club is maintained by Christopher Ladds. Christopher has had a varied career within IT and healthcare, working initially for the NHS, before becoming a Project Manager for consultancy firm Accenture.

In 2007 Christopher transferred to CSC, the worlds leading independent information technology services company:

“ I'm currently working in the health care sector in the UK, this is a very challenging and constantly changing environment enabling me to grow my contacts across the UK and the globe.”

Russell Teale manages the finance and communications for the club. Russell is a solicitor at Pinsent Masons LLP, holds a degree in Law from the University of Durham.

As well as devoting time to help run the White Collar Club, Russell is a volunteer at Cockburn College of Arts. Russell told GayLeeds:

“Volunteers give up their lunchtime one day a week to go to the school and help pupils who are struggling by reading in small groups. The improvement in the children who take part in the scheme is remarkable after the year is over and this helps them in gaining better results in the national SATs tests and ultimately, to achieve higher at GCSE level.”

Christopher Gibson oversees the club’s Corporate Relations, and is a Solicitor in Eversheds EU and competition law group, specialising in public procurement, State aids, EU funding and general EU law.

His charitable work sees him, for the past two years, running JCI Wakefield’s Christmas Tree Appeal - “This year we managed to give around 1,000 presents for disadvantaged children in the Wakefield area.”

Nicola Perrott is the Media Representative for the White Collar Club:

“By day, I am a solicitor at Irwin Mitchell LLP and I work in the personal injury department, helping people to get their lives back together after they have been disrupted by an accident.

When I am "off duty", I love to cook and if I am not actually in the kitchen, I'll usually be reading a recipe book or watching a programme related to food.  I'm not happy unless I know what I am going to eat and where for the next few days!  As can be expected, I also spend quite a significant amount of time (but not as much as I should) in the gym as a result of the above!”

Nicola lives in Leeds with Carly Elliott, who is also on the committee: “The WCC has been a great thing for us both to get involved in as it has enabled us to make some great friends (lifelong, I hope!) and expand our network a little bit wider.  I'm very proud of what we have achieved with the WCC and I'm sure that the snowball will continue to roll as we keep on evolving and expanding in the future.”

To find out more about the White Collar Club, please visit their website: http://www.whitecollarclub.co.uk/