24/05/2014 – Scene Magazine – From the heart of LGBTQ+ Life

Pride Community Support Workshops

Posted on 24/05/201424/05/2014 by Besi

Pride community volunteers are holding a series of short workshops to give advice and information aimed at helping community organisations get the most out of this year’s Pride.

All are being held at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church. If your organisation is involved with this year’s Pride, you are invited to go along.

Any questions, EMAIL:

Pride Policing: Saturday May 24 – 2.30 – 4.00pm

Representatives from the LGBT Neighbourhood Policing Team will explain how ‘policing’ works over Pride and how we can work together to create a safe and enjoyable Pride 2014.

Pride Day Grants: Saturday June 14 – 2.30 – 4.00pm

A representative from Brighton & Hove City Council will give advice on how the application process works, what makes a good application, and how to apply.

Community Stallholders Information: Saturday, July 5 – 2.30 – 4.00pm

This workshop will provide community stallholders with information about stall holding at Preston Park, along with a question and answer session to help the park event go smoothly for people with a stall.

‘Accessibility Matters’ Pride Inclusion: Saturday, July 12 – 11.00am – 1pm

This workshop will enable the attendee to understand how Pride is working with the LGBT CSF to create an inclusive event it will identify the significance of each individual attending receiving the same good quality of service.

Areas covered will include deaf awareness and a basic understanding of British Sign Language, how to assist a person with mobility issues, wheelchair access to the park, the access tent and services, supporting our older citizens, how to assist a person with visual impairment, using appropriate language and terminologies, invisible disabilities, accessible toilets and the freedom pass scheme.

Volunteers needed for Pride Parade

Posted on 24/05/201424/05/2014 by Besi

78 counties, 78 plackards 1 parade: Volunteers needed to carry protest plackards on Pride parade on August 2.

Brighton Pride needs your help.

Join their march for equality and become part of Brighton Pride’s 2014 Freedom To Live campaign and volunteer to help make Pride Matter as organisers highlight the 78 countries in the world where homosexuality is a crime.

This years Brighton Pride Parade will include 78 placards representing the 78 countries where homosexuality is a crime. Your help is needed to make this possible.

Join the Pride Community Parade and remember those living in countries including Oman, Somalia, Dominica, India, Tonga, Russia, Egypt and Iraq who do not enjoy the Freedom to Live we so often take for granted.

Volunteer to carry one of the 78 Freedom To Live placards and be part of a campaign the city can be truly proud of. Join others and bear witness to the inequalities LGBTQ communities across the globe face in their daily lives and demand that everyone, regardless of sexuality or gender deserves their Freedom to Live.

Help make Pride Matter!

To register to volunteer to carry one of the 78 FreedomTo Live placards, CLICK HERE: and Pride will contact you with further details.

What: LGBT Community Parade The World’s a Disco

Where: Madeira Drive, Brighton

When: Saturday, August 2, 2014

Time: 11am

Cost for entry to Preston Park: £9 /£12.50 Early Bird tickets sold out. Discounted £15 advance (first release) until end of May. Then £17.50 in June /£20 in July and more on the day.

Conservatives call for tougher action against traveller encampment

Posted on 24/05/2014 by Sarah Green

Conservatives are calling for the large group of travellers currently camped at Preston Park immediately to be moved off by the Police.

Cllr Geoffrey Theobald, leader of Conservative group on Brighton & Hove City Council

They are also calling for other sensitive locations in the city to be properly protected ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend.

Around 30 caravans and other vehicles broke onto the Park on Wednesday but, rather than asking the Police to move them on immediately using the powers available to the Police, the Council has decided to use the much more long-winded route of obtaining a County Court Possession Order. This will mean that the travellers are able to remain in the Park over the Bank Holiday weekend.

The Conservative Group submitted Notices of Motion to Full Council meetings in October 2102 and July 2013 calling for a list of sensitive sites to be drawn up, such as parks, nature reserves and sports pitches from which any unauthorised encampments would be immediately moved on. Neither Green nor Labour parties supported the Conservative Group’s proposal.

Cllr. Geoffrey Theobald said: “Here we go again! I can think of no other town or city council in the country which would have a large encampment of caravans remaining on one their flagship public parks. I can well imagine that many residents and visitors who were planning to use Preston Park over the Bank Holiday weekend will no longer do so. The Council should have immediately asked the Police to use their powers to move the travellers off the park and taken steps to protect other sensitive sites in the city. If they took this more robust approach then the travellers would soon get the message that these places are off limits.”

Conservative Council Candidate for Preston Park Ward, Lee Wares, added: “Having spoken to a large number of residents in the ward it is clear that one of their main concerns is encampments such as this one. People just think that travellers should abide by the same rules as everyone else.”

Get in the health zone at Newcastle Pride

Posted on 24/05/2014 by Besi

HEALTH takes centre stage this summer at one of the North East’s biggest free festivals.

Newcastle Pride 2014, one of the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) festivals in the country returns on Friday, June 18 for three days of parades, live entertainment and events.

In response to demand, its Steve Paske Health Zone will be extended to house around 30 stalls and provide space for workshops and health testing facilities.

Along with information on health issues specific to the LGBT community, there will be the chance to try complementary therapies and obtain advice on everything from nutrition and food issues to weight management and mental health, drug or alcohol abuse.

The zone, sponsored by MESMAC North East – a gay and bisexual men’s sexual health project – will also house a designated testing area for a range of sexually transmitted infections, from chlamydia to HIV.

Mark Nichols, Chairman of Northern Pride which organises the event, said: “While the festival is about fun, entertainment and celebration our focus is also very much on the mental and physical health of members of the LGBT community.”

“Last year, the Health Zone team carried out STI tests on around 260 people and handed out thousands of free condoms to visitors – and we plan to build on that this year.”

On Sunday, July 20, the Health Zone will also play host to Sports Gay, when volunteers will be able to take part in a range of light-hearted races and challenges.

This year’s Newcastle Pride has been extended beyond one day for the first time in its seven year history and other highlights this year include a parade through Newcastle city centre on Saturday, July 19 and the Paws with Pride pet show on Sunday, August 3.

For more information about Newcastle Pride, CLICK HERE:

TWITTER:

Rainbow Rooms kitemark for LGBT visitors to Birmingham Pride

Posted on 24/05/2014 by Besi

On the eve of this weekend’s Birmingham Pride Festival, the Southside district has introduced a Rainbow Rooms kitemark for hotels that positively welcome LGBT guests.

Southside Business Improvement District (BID) has brought together seven hotels under the Rainbow Rooms umbrella, representing a range of taste, specification and budget. Southside BID and the Rainbow Rooms hotels have signed up to a list of declarations supporting LGBT tourists visiting Birmingham.

All participating hotels are committed to treating all guests with the same courtesy, dignity and respect; to contribute actively to local LGBT projects; to create a work environment of respect and tolerance; to offer guests information about the LGBT scene and participate in Southside’s LGBT information days.

Julia Chance, Southside BID Manager said: “Rainbow Rooms marks an unprecedented collaboration between some of the city’s best known hotel brands. The Southside area is already Birmingham’s most welcoming area for anyone from any background – now, we can proudly say our Rainbow Rooms hotels are committed to assuring a warm welcome to LGBT tourists staying in the district.”

The hotels, who will all prominently display their Rainbow Rooms kitemark online and within the hotels themselves, are Radisson Blu, Holiday Inn, City Quarters, Stay City Birmingham, The Wellington Hotel and the Ibis chain’s Birmingham Centre New Street and Budget venues.

Lucy Clarke, Sales Manager, Stay City Birmingham, added: “We always look forward to Pride weekend, both in terms of the boost to guest numbers and in the wonderful mix of people it attracts to the area. Therefore, signing up to the Rainbow Rooms agreement demonstrates our commitment to actively encouraging an inclusive environment, as well as making good business sense.”

Birmingham Pride takes place in Southside’s Gay Village on Saturday 24 and Sunday May 25.

To find out more about Southside and Rainbow Rooms, CLICK HERE:

For more information about Birmingham Pride, CLICK HERE:

Call us now

Day: May 24, 2014

Pride Community Support Workshops

Pride community volunteers are holding a series of short workshops to give advice and information aimed at helping community organisations get the most out of this year’s Pride.

Volunteers needed for Pride Parade

78 counties, 78 plackards 1 parade: Volunteers needed to carry protest plackards on Pride parade on August 2.

Conservatives call for tougher action against traveller encampment

Conservatives are calling for the large group of travellers currently camped at Preston Park immediately to be moved off by the Police.

Get in the health zone at Newcastle Pride

HEALTH takes centre stage this summer at one of the North East’s biggest free festivals.

Rainbow Rooms kitemark for LGBT visitors to Birmingham Pride

On the eve of this weekend’s Birmingham Pride Festival, the Southside district has introduced a Rainbow Rooms kitemark for hotels that positively welcome LGBT guests.

Latest News

Call us now

Pride community volunteers are holding a series of short workshops to give advice and information aimed at helping community organisations get the most out of this year’s Pride.

Share this:

78 counties, 78 plackards 1 parade: Volunteers needed to carry protest plackards on Pride parade on August 2.

Share this:

Conservatives are calling for the large group of travellers currently camped at Preston Park immediately to be moved off by the Police.

Share this:

HEALTH takes centre stage this summer at one of the North East’s biggest free festivals.

Share this:

On the eve of this weekend’s Birmingham Pride Festival, the Southside district has introduced a Rainbow Rooms kitemark for hotels that positively welcome LGBT guests.

Share this:

Latest News