After years as a Metropolitan Police officer, then as a monk, then as a trainee Catholic priest, and then as a sexual health adviser, William Devine has seen human nature at its frailest, its strongest, and all shades in between.

Now he is embarking on what is arguably his greatest challenge yet: WOW.

This is the acronym for We're Out West, a new project aimed specifically at helping young gay men, from teens to 25, in Kingston and Richmond.

"It's an absolute first. There's been nothing like it locally before," said William, who is looking for all the support he can get to launch WOW as a recognised charity.

Why should young gay men in the two boroughs be a special priority?

William explained there was a huge student population in Kingston and Richmond, a significant proportion of which was gay or bisexual men.

"One report has said one male in 10 is gay, another puts it at one in 20," he said.

"Some suffer bullying and violence. Many have parents who find it so hard to face up to their son's sexuality they can't offer any support.

"This can lead to significant mental problems for young men with nowhere to go, no safe place to meet others of their own genre.

"So they stay closeted, which has a knock-on effect on their mental health, and often results in multiple attempts at suicide."

HIV is a constant threat to desperate young people trying to make their way in a world predominantly hostile to their sexuality.

"Indeed, AIDS is the biggest single killer of young men in the London area, so prevention is our primary aim," William said.

Drugs are another aspect of the homosexual scene.

"A certain section can develop an overdependency on alcohol and drugs. We try to reach young men as early as possible, before it happens," he said.

"Our goal is to enable young gay men to become full members of society.

"We have positive role models like Elton John, Stephen Twigg, the MP who unseated Michael Portillo at the last election, and two prominent local councillors."

How has William achieved such sensitive understanding of the traumas of homosexuality in a predominantly heterosexual world?

"I knew I was gay at the age of 13, and I agonised," he said.

"My family were down-to-earth Glaswegian working folk who would have found it hard to understand.

"So I went for advice to a priest, who dismissed it as loneliness - probably, I've since realised, because he was gay himself."

William left school at 18, and came to London to join the Metropolitan Police, where he rose to the rank of sergeant. He loved the work, but gave it up to join a religious order.

After seven years as a monk - and only one year before he was to be ordained - he left. "I gave up the priesthood because I no longer believed in God.

"As a gay man, I couldn't reconcile who I was with Christian theories on sexuality," he said.

Since then he has devoted himself to helping gay people in practical, pastoral and healthcare terms.

He is an adviser at Kingston Hospital's Wolverton Centre for Sexual Health (which holds daily clinics) and for three years was manager of Kingston's voluntary organisation, HIV Response.

Now he chairs the steering committee of WOW, which will be based in a youth centre somewhere in Kingston.

It will offer social opportunities, guidance on building self-esteem and good relationships, and workshops on safer sex and coming to terms with being gay and "coming out."

He will be an ideal mentor.

"Coming to terms with homosexuality has been a painful struggle," he said.

"As a young man, I always felt a hostage to society's attitudes.

"Now I'm 36, but only in the past four or five years have I found a large degree of acceptance; and I only came out to my parents a couple of years ago."

He gave up the priesthood because he no longer believed in God. But one can't help feeling that his previous careers were a divinely pre-ordained preparation for the work he is doing now.