27/08/2013 – Scene Magazine – From the heart of LGBTQ+ Life

Public services and politicians have failed to tackle gay people’s fear of discrimination

Posted on 27/08/201309/11/2013 by Besi

New polling commissioned by Stonewall, the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual equality organisation shows that LGB people continue to expect to face discrimination in almost all walks of life.

Published today in the report Gay in Britain the research demonstrates that, in spite of huge advances in legal equality, people still expect to face poor treatment from schools, hospitals and police forces because of their sexual orientation.

• Almost half of the 2,000 gay people surveyed by YouGov expect to be treated less fairly than a heterosexual person when applying to adopt a child.

• Seventy per cent expect barriers to becoming a school governor and

• 61 per cent believe the child of gay parents would be bullied in primary school.

These concerns are reflected across other public services, with a third of gay people expecting worse treatment in a care home and one in five believing they’d be treated less fairly by a judge.

• Nine in ten say they’ve never been consulted about their needs by local service providers.

Stonewall Chief Executive Ben Summerskill said:

“Completion of our work on marriage means that one strand of Stonewall’s domestic focus – legislative equality – is effectively complete. But this polling demonstrates starkly that changing laws doesn’t change attitudes and lives overnight.
“Gay taxpayers contribute £40bn every year to the cost of Britain’s public services. They should be able to have confidence that they’ll receive the services they need when accessing schools, hospitals or policing. It’s time the needs of this country’s 3.7 million lesbian, gay and bisexual people, both as citizens and service-users, were properly met.”

Martlets Hospice announces financial results

Posted on 27/08/201309/11/2013 by Besi

The Martlets Hospice today released its Financial Results for the year ended March 31st 2013.

In the year, the Hospice made a net profit of £212,587, helping start the process of rebuilding its reserves which had been reduced following losses in the previous two years.

In announcing the results, Acting Chair of the Hospice, John Powell said:

”This is a very encouraging result following two difficult years and the Trustees would like to thank everybody in the local community for their continuing financial support of the Martlets. Only around a third of our funding comes via the NHS, so we are still faced with the ongoing challenge of raising over £8,000 per day to fund the Hospice’s services. We also need to ensure that we have a prudent level of reserves to ensure our core activities remain sustainable.”

“Hospice Trustees and Management have had to make some difficult decisions over the past two years in order to contain costs. These savings together with increased income from a number of our fundraising and trading activities plus focusing on specific clinical priorities means we have been able to provide high levels of care for patients both at the Hospice itself and in the home, whilst also continuing with our support for families and carers.”

Hove takeaway fined

Posted on 27/08/2013 by Besi

Mr Muharrem Kartal, owner of Golden Fried Chicken, 22 Church Road, Hove, pleaded guilty at Brighton Magistrates Court today, August 27, to 17 counts of failing to comply with food hygiene regulations on January 15 and 25, 2013 and failing to improve after repeated visits and advice from the council’s food safety team.

Mr Kartal was fined £6,950, with £4,707.38 costs and £120 victim surcharge, a total of £11,877.38. He was ordered to pay the first £2,000 within 7 days.

The court heard that on January 15 2013 two officers from Brighton & Hove City Council’s Food Safety team visited the premises to check it was in compliance with regulations. Further offences were also seen on another visit made on January 25

Len Batten, prosecuting on behalf of the council, told magistrates how the officers found the premises dirty, greasy and without sufficient measures to prevent pests entering food areas. Mouse droppings were seen in various parts of the premises and a mouse nest discovered next to a box of carrots in the storeroom.

Officers found food equipment was not adequately cleaned, with a build up of fat, dirt and meat particles inside the mincing machine. There were blood smears on the inside of the door to the walk-in chiller and food debris on the floor.

Pizza toppings were stored at temperatures too high to prevent the growth of food poisoning bacteria and salads were at risk of contamination from juices dripping from raw meat. Other breaches included large deposits of congealed fat in the yard.

The court heard how the premises had been visited on numerous occasions since 2010. While some improvements were made during this time, there was evidence of significant breaches of food hygiene regulations.

Councillor Pete West, chair of the environment committee, said:

“The council’s food safety team works closely with food outlets in the city and we know most businesses take pride in their cleanliness and take food safety very seriously. There is no excuse for appalling conditions such as these and, despite lots of advice and visits, the premises failed to respond, leaving us no alternative but to intervene to protect the public.”

Legends raise £2,499 for Rainbow Fund

Posted on 27/08/201309/11/2013 by Besi

Reece Roberts, manager of Legends Hotel, hands over a cheque for £2,499.01 to Paul Elgood, chair of the Rainbow Fund, the proceeds of their all day cabaret fundraiser on Pride Sunday.

£1,499.01 was raised in the buckets and from the raffle and Tony Chapman personally donated a further£1,000 bringing the total to £2,499.01.

Paul Elgood said:

“Thanks to Tony Chapman and all the team at Legends for raising an amazing amount in one day. It was a great way to end Pride and make a difference to the local LGBT and HIV groups working in our community.

“Thanks also to the acts who gave up their time to perform and to the lovely Lola Lasagne for hosting the day so well.

“We don’t fundraise directly but rely on high profile events such as this to ensure that there’s enough money available for each of our grant rounds for local community groups to apply for.

“We need to keep raising money as the demand is always high from applicants for grant funding.”