Quintimacy Manchester 2025 - 'Combo' weekend of Level 1 PLUS Quintimacy 'Lab' Day (L2)
Fri 20 Jun 2025 9:00 AM - Sun 22 Jun 2025 5:00 PM BST
The Pathways Studio, M50 2XH
Description
Due to popular demand, Alexander Hahne and Beck Thom are pleased to be holding a Quintimacy ‘Combo’ event in Manchester on Friday 20th, Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd June 2025.
‘Combo’ means that for the first time you have the opportunity to attend a Level 1 and a Level 2 space within one weekend.
Friday and Saturday is a Level 1 event, suitable for beginners to Quintimacy, as well as more experienced queer intimacy practitioners. New and nervous people will be incredibly welcomed and taken care of, in a group where we build foundations of embodied consent and encourage you to work at your pace.
Sunday will be a ‘Level 2’ Quintimacy Level 2 ‘Lab’ day which is open to those from Friday and Saturday, and to experienced or returners to Quintimacy (if you have done a Level 1 event before). It will encompass L1 and L2 content, skills and possibilities (so that means more queer intimate pleasure AND Kink).
Day 1
Day 1 is all about building a sense of safety and establishing shared values and skills around communication, enthusiastic consent and learning to hold one another gently in vulnerability. We will start to explore touch and pleasure in structured practices based upon the Wheel of Consent.
On Day 1 we'll work carefully and with intention, supporting one another to feel into our bodies' sense of yes and no, and to communicate our boundaries and desires. The focus of this gentle trauma-informed day will be on soothing, safety and nurturing.
Day 1 includes time to experience:
sharing stories
deep listening and being heard
conscious non-sexual touch
embodied consent
massage
cuddles
This first day is a complete experience, where clothing is optional but 'pants stay on' at all times, and is suitable for those new to this work.
Day 2
Day 2 offers the opportunity to deepen this work to include intimate or erotic touch, practices such as the Genital Interview and watching intimate and erotic bodywork demos. In the afternoon, you will be invited to negotiate and design your own ‘bespoke experience’ of touch and intimacy with one or more participants, or solo.
Day 2 offers the chance to build on these strong foundations of safety. Deepening our journey into Queer Intimacy, allowing our relationships within the group to become closer, clothing will again be optional but 'pants off’ is now an option. On Day 2 we open up the possibility to witness and share erotic touch and pleasure. We support you to find partners to work with.
Day 2 includes time to experience:
sensual or erotic touch
full body massage
intimate mapping
gender free body appreciation
gender affirming genital exploration
self touch
shared touch
Day 3 - Quintimacy Level 2 ‘Lab’.
Some attendees will choose to attend Friday and Saturday and have a well-deserved break on Sunday (remembering that you are now eligible to return for a 3 day long Level 2 workshop!)
Others might choose to attend our ‘sibling’ event, the Quintimacy L2 Lab Day, which will take place in the same venue on Sunday 22nd June, and will offer you the chance to go further and deeper with the work you have been doing, and to draw in some Kink and Level 2 content.
Quintimacy ‘Lab’ day will offer three elements;
1) Previous Level 1 attendees can join just for this day, alongside those who have attended Friday and Saturday.
2) A flavour and taste of Level 2 content (power, stronger sensation, erotic selves, kink)
3) A spacious ‘lab’ in which to practice, experiment and play in a held space with other queer and trans people.
Level 2 - the concept
- Going further with intimate parts/genitals/ass – erotic and explorative touch.
Playing with power, erotic authority, leading and following and expressing dominance, submission and surrender.
Experimenting with stronger sensations, play with toys and tools, pain and pleasure.
Exploration of the erotic mind, fantasy and 'kinky' queer intimacy.
Opportunities to work in pairs and groups to negotiate and create experiences based around your curiosities, desires and limits.
This will all be a continuation of previous Quintimacy workshops, with as much care around building a consensual container and trauma-informed space to enable us to explore these themes bravely, with as much self consent and honouring of our needs and boundaries as possible. For a level 2, there is the expectation that everyone attending contributes to this group culture, and everyone benefits from what it opens up.
Level 2 (further/deeper) events will be opportunities for people to bring their own journeys and process to the event, and we imagine a room in which people are taking their explorations into creative enquiries of all different kinds, and diversity is welcome.
As usual, we consciously resist pressure to be on any kind of ‘escalator’, except one that you choose and negotiate with your working partners/peers. There will always be opportunities to rest, spend time in den, colouring, journaling, cuddling, doing solo touch, etc. All the activities we did at Level 1 will be available to revisit and repeat (e.g Genital/Ass interview, canoe holds, Bossy Massage).
What will happen on ‘Quintimacy Lab’ day?
doing something again or for longer
more time with the same or a different partner.
Playing with Power, stronger sensation, sensation play and sharing fantasies.
Play with Kink toys and gear.
Learn and practice tools and techniques for communication and negotiation of scenes.
‘Labbing’ an idea or practice you are curious about.
long, immersive episodes of receiving an intimate and/or erotic experience with a partner/s.
possibly playing as more than 2 or a group intimacy experience.
Cuddles and listening pairs and platonic touch and rest, as always.
more time immersed in a brave, queer and sex positive space with your friends and peers
Structure of day (subject to change)
AM
Opening Circle and group introductions
Demo/exercise exploring power
Finding a partner
Time in negotiated ‘bespoke experiences’
Bring and Share lunch
PM
Demo/exercise exploring stronger sensation
Time in negotiated ‘bespoke experiences’
Closing Circle
Please note - The Quintimacy L2 Lab Day is a taste and flavour, and a practice space, inspired by and containing content from the Level 2 workshop curriculum. This is a workshop that takes place over three days, so we are not able to cover everything, and we highly recommend the Level 3 workshop if you like the sound of, and enjoy this day!
Who are Quintimacy events suitable for?
The Quintimacy level 1 days are suitable for queer and trans adults (18+)* of any experience level. Beginners to these kinds of events are welcome. We are exploring and practicing solid consent and communication skills based on the Betty Martin Wheel of Consent, and participants are encouraged to work at a range of levels within a wide spectrum of possibilities.
Whilst the Level 1 days are not kink focussed, the programme and facilitators are kink positive and inclusive.
Level 2
Doing these two Level 1 days means you become eligible to book onto the Quintimacy Lab event on Sun 22nd June, along with people who have attended our events before.
If you prefer to wait, you are now eligible to book a level 2 event in the future (which invites further practice of intimacy and playing with power, exploring stronger sensation and the erotic self/ves and mind.)
The next 3-day Level 2 event is in Brighton on 3-5 October 2025 - see https://buytickets.at/quintimacy/1423464
*If you are 18-21 years old, we would appreciate chatting with you before either L1 or L2 event to give you information, discuss the content, talk through any questions you may have, and ensure you are going to have the most positive experience possible. Thanks!
Safety and Safeguarding
Beck and Alexander work to the code of conduct for Certified Sexological Bodyworkers (CSBs) and the Quintimacy weekend is held on the basis of these ways of working, which are deeply consent-based and trauma-informed.
We ask all attendees to use barriers (nitrile gloves) for body fluids, following the same hygiene protocol that CSBs use in our work. This applies even if you are attending and working with a fluid bonded partner, and this is to keep the space clean.
With regards to the content around penetration/circlusion, sharing of fantasy, and activities that involve stronger sensation and experimenting with power, as well as the intimate parts/genital work, we recognise that there are more things that could concern people or go 'wrong'. For this reason, there will be clear principles and guidelines about the limits and boundaries for this workshop, which we ask everyone, including experienced members of kink community and established partners to play within. More detail will be communicated to booked participants as we get closer to the weekend date.
We take a number of steps to ensure that people attending the event are able and willing to create a consent culture together and this might mean turning people away on occasion if we don't feel there is a good fit at this time. The team are all operating under agreement about ethical boundaries between us and attendees. There are anonymous ways to report any consent violations or accidents that you believe occur at a Quintimacy event. If you have any concerns, please approach Beck or Alexander to discuss at the nearest opportunity.
There are Group Agreements that detail how we behave at Quintimacy events to create the most conducive environment for doing this important work. These are sent out to participants in the weeks before the event.
Attending solo or as a pair
You can attend Quintimacy alone, and not know anyone (yet), or with a friend or a partner. You can choose to work with your partner exclusively, or not. Each person attending will need to purchase a ticket in their own name.
Venue
We are returning to the Pathways Studio in Salford!
Lord Byron Square, Salford M50 2XH
The venue is easily accessible on public transport and there is parking in surrounding areas (industrial estate) including close to the venue. There are three gender neutral toilets exclusively for our use, and the venue and toilets are wheelchair accessible. Please contact us to discuss any accessibility requirements.
The venue website - https://www.thepathwaysstudio.com/
Cost
Tickets are offered on a sliding scale, depending on your income and financial situation. Most people should pay the STANDARD ticket, so please look at this first and consider if you can afford to pay this. If you are on a low income/marginalised in various ways and unable to afford the Standard ticket, you are welcome to purchase a SUBSIDISED ticket (limited tickets available). The only way we can afford to offer subsidised tickets is if people support by paying extra when they can, and this is where generous supporters come in! If you can afford to buy a SUPPORTERS ticket, we would be very grateful. Also, on any ticket tier you have the option of adding an extra amount to support. Thank you for paying what you can to help make Quintimacy sustainable.
Quintimacy Manchester Level 1 (Day 1 and 2)
£240 STANDARD
£160 - SUBSIDISED
£280 - SUPPORTERS
Level 1 plus Quintimacy Manchester ‘Lab’ (All 3 days)
£300 STANDARD
£200 SUBSIDISED
£350 - SUPPORTERS
2 days ticket holder’s UPGRADING COST - £50 for everyone on any sliding scale.
Quintimacy Manchester ‘Lab’ - Sunday only
These tickets allow you to attend Sunday ONLY, and are exclusively for those who have attended a Level 1 workshop before.
£100 STANDARD
£70 SUBSIDISED
£120 SUPPORTERS
Please note if you book this and we do not have a record of you attending a Quintimacy Level 1 event, or it has been a significant length of time since you had contact with Quintimacy, Beck may contact you for a chat.
Upgrading to 3 day ticket
If you have bought tickets for Level 1 (Fri and Sat only), you can 'upgrade' to attend the ‘Lab’ event on Sunday and you can decide on Saturday evening. This depends on availability of places for the ‘Lab’ event and there is a chance it will be sold out/the room may be at capacity. The cost of ‘upgrading’ will be a standard £50 for all tiers of sliding scale, and can be paid into Beck's bank account by BACS/bank transfer before you arrive on the Sunday morning.
Sponsored places
If you really are unable to afford the lowest price, subsidised ticket and feel called to be at this event, we are offering a maximum of 2 SPONSORED places where we negotiate how much you can afford to pay for 2 days. Priority will be given to QTBIPOC/disabled people/people with multiple intersecting marginalised identities. If you want to express an interest in one of these places, please email Beck on info@quintimacy.com. Discretion assured.
Cancellations
Cancellations 28 days before event - a full refund (minus all booking fees) will be offered.
Cancellations 14 days or more before event - 50% refund (minus all booking fees). In exceptional circumstances and where we can find someone to take your place at this event, we may be able to transfer your payment to a future event.
Cancellations less than 14 days before event - I regret no refunds can be given.
Unfortunately, no refunds can be offered once the event has started, whether you decide to leave for any reason, or in the unlikely case we ask someone to leave because of safety/behaviour etc.
Refunds are done via BACS (bank transfer) and we would require your bank details to complete this.
Instalments
Once you have chosen your sliding scale ticket price, it is possible to pay in instalments to make it easier to manage the costs of the event. The full balance must be paid 14 days before the start of the event (Fri 6th June). The cancellation policy applies to all payments made by instalments, except the first instalment of £50 which is non refundable (in acknowledgement of admin work and costs).
If you wish to pay by instalments, please contact us as soon as possible on info@quintimacy.com and tell us whether you are paying standard, subsidised or supporter ticket fee. Please also tell us when you will make your payments and of how much (ensuring full payment has been received 14 days before the event starts). We will create an access code to book a £50 deposit ticket so you are registered in our system.
COVID
Quintimacy now has a policy that aims to reduce the possibility of Covid being spread through the community we love and care about. We are asking people to test (LFT) before attending the event, and showing your test on arrival, and to not attend with cold and flu/sickness and diarrhoea symptoms.
You can read the full Covid policy here - Quintimacy COVID policy - for in person events - final Nov 2024
Food
Hot drinks and snacks will be provided, including vegan snacks and fruit. We are inviting you to ‘bring and share’ vegan or vegetarian food for lunch on each day (there are kitchen facilities at the venue - further details will be provided). If you prefer you can bring your own lunch or go out to get some.
On previous Quintimacy events, in the evenings, people arranged to go out to eat in local restaurants together, or maybe you will prefer a quiet meal at your accommodation.
Accommodation
We are unable to arrange accommodation locally but will set up a Facebook group for participants to arrange sharing accommodation, travel, and maybe a meal on Saturday night.
There will be a private Facebook page for the event where you can make arrangements with others. (As with everything we offer, engaging with this is optional.)
Facilitators
Beck Thom (of Quintimacy/Somatic Sex Educator) and Alexander Hahne will be holding the space for us on these two days.
Beck Thom (they/them) is a queer, non-binary, kinky Somatic Sex Educator and Certified Sexological Bodyworker, and the founder of Quintimacy. They are passionate about creating spaces for queer and trans sexuality, play and erotic expression and have delivered around 14 Quintimacy events and many more online spaces since 2017. They work in a trauma-informed, consent-based way and aim to create spaces where together we develop enough safety and trust for intimate and transformative work and play to happen. Beck is a registered member of Association of Certified Sexological Bodyworkers and is fully insured.
Alexander Hahne (he/ him) is a gay trans man, trainer and speaker for trans-specific topics in the field of sexual health, sex educator (gsp), somatic counselor, sexological bodyworker (ISB), dancer and pleasure activist. Leader of workshops and individual counselling on the topics of body awareness, intimacy and sexuality. With his work he makes a practical contribution to more visibility and inclusion of trans and non-binary people, and directly supports them in their own experience of the body as well as the possibility of uncovering and using access to their own pleasurable potential. http://www.alexanderhahne.com and https://www.instagram.com/alexander_hahne/
Location
The Pathways Studio, M50 2XH