A monthly coffee group for Rushmoor’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community will be relaunched this month.

Ricardo Lobo-Morell, from Farnborough , set up a LGBT coffee group in 2010, which ran successfully for a number of years, but it ceased in 2013 after numbers declined.

However, after recognising a clear lack of LGBT groups in Hampshire, Mr Lobo-Morell, 39, is relaunching the group.

He said: “I used to live in London where there was an abundance of LGBT events from bars, coffee shops and so on. When I moved to Farnborough, following the death of my mum in February 2009, there literally was nothing for the LGBT community to do or go to other than the Lord Campbell pub in Aldershot, which has been closed now for a while, a few pubs in Reading, of which there is only one venue left, and, of course, going to London.

“There is a substantial lack of any social events locally that doesn’t include alcohol – there is an occasional event in Camberley at the Agincourt and The University of Surrey has monthly events at the student union – so having a coffee group whereby there is no alcohol, or for people who would rather not go to pubs or events where alcohol is the only real option, seems to make sense.”

The Lord Campbell, in Alexandra Road, closed in July 2014 after its licence was revoked following police complaints about drug-taking on the premises, while an attempt was made to launch a new LGBT event– Kurious – at Tiffany’s, in Grosvenor Road, in December 2013.

Mr Lobo-Morell’s group is listed with Rushmoor Voluntary Services and is run with the local lesbian and gay liaison officer (LAGLO) from Hampshire Constabulary.

A representative from Healthy Gay Hampshire, an HIV prevention organisation, also attended previous meetings to provide members with sexual health advice and sign-post them to other local services.

The group will be relaunched this Saturday, and will run on the last Saturday of each month thereafter.

Members will meet at Costa in Princes Mead shopping centre , Farnborough, from 2pm to 4pm.

Mr Lobo-Morell said: “I wanted to meet new LGBT friends and figured that liaising with the lesbian and gay liaison officer and a representative from Healthy Gay Hampshire would help me put together some form of group.

“It has no agenda other than meeting up over a coffee, catching up and making new friends.”

A Facebook group has been set up for members to join, at www.facebook.com/groups/farnboroughLGBT and Mr Lobo-Morell can be contacted via Twitter at @Ricke17 .

Hampshire County Council also runs an LGBT action group, to support LGBT communities to access services to meet their individual needs. For further details, email Moira Smyth at moira.smyth@hants.gov.uk .