“In the beginning there was only Chaos.”
Proteus is coming to the North!
Prepare for a night of BDSM, leather and gender euphoria, as we take over the Manchester Chambers in Ashton-Under-Lyne for our trans-centred leather play party. The Chambers is a private studio with a fully equipped dungeon where we'll have a fully-stocked bar with social seating, an enclosed outdoor space for smokers, a quiet/chill room, and 3 separate rooms dedicated to all kinds of delicious debauchery.
We will have THREE amazing Bootblacks available for this party! They'll be working a split shift so that they can play for the evening as well! (We'll announce who is working the stand shortly)
This event is running on the same weekend as Manchester Leather Weekend, and while some of their events are gender-restrictive due to venue licensing, the club itself is not. We encourage those who might be interested in making a weekend of it to head along to their events as well, we believe that the leather community can be stronger together, and you'll find our Chapter Head, Mal, at the Bootblack stand during the social meets.
Accessibility
Opening times:
Doors will open at 5:30, with last entry at 9pm. We require attendees to vacate the venue by 10:30pm.
Travel:
This event is held in Ashton-Under-Lyne, and is a 5 minute walk from the tram stop, it has regular trams that are fully accessible and run frequently to Manchester Piccadilly, which is also an accessible station.
From the tram stop the road to the Chambers is on a slope (about 30 degrees incline), and goes uphill towards the venue. The pavements are not the best kept, but do have dropped curbs.
The only parking in the area is on-street, as the venue is in an industrial/residential location.
Chambers:
For full venue information, the Manchester Chambers' website can be found here.
The Chambers is a venue across two floors, with a bar, social seating and large dungeon room all on the ground floor. There are single steps in the social area doorways, around 2-3 inches in height.
There is a toilet on the ground floor, however it is not wheelchair accessible, meaning that anyone wishing to use it would need to walk a few steps to get in.
The quiet room and 2 other dungeon spaces are on the first floor, which is reached by approximately 15 steps of average height. The stairway is narrow, and has handrails and we will ensure adequate lighting.
Note: As a club we are aware that accessibility is an issue for many of our members (including some of our organisers). We are attempting to put on events in venues that are as accessible as possible, but this can be difficult, as many venues with licences are in older buildings with little to no adaptation. If you are aware of a venue that meets accessibility needs, we would be grateful if you would point us in their direction. We want to make sure that all of our members can access these spaces whenever possible.
Ticketing
Our tickets are at a mid-range of £15 for general admission for Proteus Members. Non-member tickets are prices at £19
We do offer a reduced price for people of colour within our community at £10.
There are a total of 50 tickets available.
Dress Code
There is a small dress code for Chaos at the Chambers:
- No fascist insignias or hate symbols
- No lower body nudity in the social or smoking area
- No barefeet outside of play spaces
We ask that attendees wear at least 2 pieces of leather. Wear full BLUF or formal leather if that's your thing, but for those with less gear or who prefer to wear “leather-lite” we still want to see you represent the leather aspect of your identity. Clothing items can include but are not limited to: Boots, belts, harnesses, shirts, shorts, caps etc. These can be leather or faux/vegan leather.
Ground Rules
At Proteus we want to celebrate our kinky queer selves in an open environment that allows us to feel safe and welcome, so we do have some ground rules -
- This is a queer, trans centred, mixed gender, SM play party. To attend, you must be over 18 and identify as (at least one of) lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, intersex, non-binary, trans or gender fluid/queer. If you are straight and cisgender (your gender matches the sex you were assigned at birth) this party is not for you unless you’re accompanying your LGBTQI partner(s) and then you are very welcome!
- Consent is key in these spaces, we ask that our attendees are conscious of how they interact with others, and that they negotiate consent with those they are connecting with.
- The party safeword is RED and means stop the scene.
- We have a zero tolerance policy to consent violations.
- Please immediately inform an organiser if you have reason to suspect that someone’s consent or safeword is not being honoured. Organisers on duty will be clearly identifiable by lanyards.
- No phones or photography in the play areas at all, unless by agreement with organisers and anyone in the shot. Anyone found taking photos without permission will be asked to leave.
- Respect the space. We would love to build a positive relationship with venues to ensure we can continue to put on events with them. So please clean up after yourself, try not to break anything, and report any spills or breakages as soon as possible.
- Don’t interrupt or disturb scenes/play/aftercare unless it is urgent and necessary. If you really need to ask players a practical question (eg. if it is ok that you play close to them), wait for the right moment and keep it short.
- Do not comment on play, unless you have been invited to do so by the players. If you believe play is unsafe, report this to an organiser.
- While there is a bar available, we ask that attendees know their limits. We will not tolerate unsafe play practices, whether sober or intoxicated.
- This is a drug-free event and smoking is only allowed in the outdoor area.
- Poppers are allowed within the venue.
- We reserve the right to remove someone without explanation: Examples of behaviour that might warrant this include (but are not limited to) being non-consensually aggressive to other attendees or organisers, being intoxicated, behaving in a way that disregards consent, making repeated unwanted advances on someone, non- consensually participating in a scene, and so on.