Call us now

Month: August 2015

Allsorts shortlisted for European award

Posted on by Gary Hart

Brighton-based Allsorts Youth Project, has been shortlisted in the Charity of the Year category in the European Diversity Awards 2015.

WEB.600.3Allsorts Youth Project was founded in 1999 by Jess Wood and James Newton. It is a registered charity with three full-time staff, three part-time staff, a team of volunteers and works with young LGBTU people.

The charity provides a variety of services for LGBTU young people, including weekly drop-ins, a mental health and well-being group and a Trans Kids group.

Its youth volunteering hub offers opportunities in campaigning, fund-raising, educating, peer support and works in partnership with a wide range of third-sector organisations, public services, schools, colleges, universities and runs a parent support group.

The awards, widely acknowledged as the European Diversity Oscars, celebrate excellence in all aspects of diversity in the areas of gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, race, culture and religion across Europe.

Jess Wood: Project Director

Project Director Jess Wood, said: “It is a tribute to the outstanding work of our staff, volunteers, trustees and the young people we work with that our tiny project should be nominated alongside national organisations like Age UK.”

“This is a big step up from last year when we carried off the award for the best community organisation in the UK National Diversity Awards.”

The European Diversity Awards will be announced on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 at the Natural History Museum in London.

For list of nominees, click here:

 

For more information about Allsorts, click here:

Sponsored abseils raise more than £15k for Martlets Hospice

Posted on by Gary Hart

Last Sunday, August 23, 40 plucky people gathered at the top of Peacehaven Cliffs to take part in a 115ft abseil in aid of the Martlets Hospice.

Martlets Abseil

They were the second bunch, as a further 39 participants had already descended the chalk cliff face in July for the Hove based charity.

Between them all, more than £15,000 has been pledged to the Martlets in sponsorship. Such an amount would provide a week’s care on their In-Patient unit for five patients.

Clem Hunnisett, Event Fundraiser for the Martlets, said; “A big thank you goes out to everyone who took part in both our Abseil events this year. We didn’t have the best weather for either Abseil, but people have been determined to take on the cliffs to try to raise as much as they can for the Hospice.

“In total over £15,000 has been raised from both Abseils and we are so grateful to people for tackling their fears to help fund the essential work that the Martlets does.”

The funds raised will help the Martlets provide end of life care to local adults who are affected by terminal and life limiting illness, as well as caring for their families and loved ones.

Facilities at the Martlets include an 18 bed In-Patient Unit, Hospice at Home service, Patient and Family Support team and Martlets Day Services.

The Martlets receives less than a third of their funding from the government and must raise £11,000 a day to help people who are dying to do so with dignity and in as calm and peaceful a way as possible.

For more news about upcoming Marlets fundraising events, click here:

Or email: emailevents@martlets.org.uk

Or telephone: 01273 964200

Sir Ian McKellen welcomes new patrons to Albert Kennedy Trust

Posted on by Besi

Actor Russell Tovey, singer and actress Heather Peace and Paralympian Claire Harvey become patrons of  The Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT), the LGBT youth homelessness charity.

Sir Ian McKellen
Sir Ian McKellen

Sir Ian McKellen, a current patron said; “Welcome to our new Patrons. Their commitment will encourage others to contribute in whatever way they can to the essential work that the Albert Kennedy Trust does, on behalf of LGBT young people who desperately need help and protection.”

Many of the young people supported by the charity have experienced rejection, abuse or violence.

Russell Tovey
Russell Tovey

Russell Tovey most recently seen in the hit US show Looking said; “The AKT helps thousands of young people every year find their footing again. Everyone deserves to live safe and supported and this charity changes lives for the better, daily. I am honored to be associated with them and if just by being there, I can make any difference at all, then that difference is the most important thing”

Heather Peace
Heather Peace

Heather Peace, a long-time supporter of AKT regularly attending fundraisers, added; “AKT is a lifeline for the young people it helps. No one should be made homeless because of his or her sexuality or gender identity but it is happening all too frequently. AKT offers both emotional and practical support and I’ve met some of the young people they’ve helped to turn their lives around and they were so inspiring.”

Claire Harvey
Claire Harvey

Claire Harvey, who is also the Senior Diversity and Inclusion Consultant for KPMG, concluded; “Most of us remember how hard it was being comfortable in our own identity even within a nurturing environment. It saddens me that so many of our young LGBT people, full of potential and promise are facing rejection, isolation, fear and danger purely because of being authentic to themselves. Not to mention so many adults who are losing the love and connection to their family members out of fear or ignorance.”

The Albert Kennedy Trust has also added five new members to their board of trustees, which will boost the charity’s ability to take on new challenges, help more young LGBT people facing homelessness because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and work towards meeting the charities aspirations for helping young people nationally.

Bear-Patrol raise £3,601.60 for Rainbow Fund

Posted on by Gary Hart

Jason Sutton, aka Miss Jason, joined Danny Dwyer, Ant Howells and Ian Chaplin from Bear-Patrol at Emporium on London Road to hand over £3,601.60 to Chris Gull, Chair of the Rainbow Fund.

Bear-Patrol

The money was raised by Miss Jason and members of Bear-Patrol abseiling from the top of the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth in May (£3,419.90) and from a quiz night at the Camelford Arms (£181.70).

The money will be distributed in the Rainbow Fund’s Autumn grants round.

The Rainbow Fund makes grants to LGBT/HIV organisations delivering effective front-line services to LGBT people in Brighton & Hove. Groups benefitting from grants in the last year include Lunch Positive, Peer Action, Sussex Beacon, LGBT Community Safety Forum, FTM Brighton, Clare Project, Trans*Pride, LGBT Switchboard, Allsorts Youth Project, MindOut, Blueprint 22, Older and Out and GEMS.

Vitality Brighton Half Marathon 2016 registration closes soon

Posted on by Graham Robson

With six months to go until race day, organisers for the Vitality Brighton Half Marathon 2016 urge runners to sign up as few places remain.

Brighton Half Marathon

More than 8,000 places have been snapped up so far, and the event looks likely to sell out within the next few weeks.

Celebrating its 26th year in 2016, the famous seafront course, draws large crowds and runners of all abilities, from beginners to elites, to run the 13.1 mile route through the city.

Race day for 2016 is February 28 2016, and the race date is ideal preparation for anyone training for a Spring marathon, in Brighton, London, Manchester or Paris.

Race director Martin Harrigan, said: “It really is a fantastic event that continues to grow year on year whilst still retaining its community feel. Support on the course is incredible and the atmosphere along Madeira Drive as you approach the finish is something really special and not to be missed!”

The general public entry fee is £34 for affiliated runners and £36 for non-affiliated runners, including a goody bag and a medal at the finish.

The Vitality Brighton Half Marathon is organised by and the main fundraiser for Brighton based charity The Sussex Beacon, a unique centre providing innovative services to meet the changing needs of people living with HIV.

Runners can also choose to be part of Team Beacon and help raise funds exclusively for The Sussex Beacon, or they can run for one of the other official charities which include Laureus, RISE, Chestnut Tree House, Scope, WaterAid plus more. Charities partnering with the race are listed on the website, where runners can find out more and sign up.

The race is also part of the national Vitality Run Series featuring seven of the UK’s leading half marathons plus two 10Ks.

The 2015 Half Marathon raised £141,280 profit for the Sussex Beacon.

To register, click here:

 

 

Britain’s Got Talent team come to the Zone

Posted on by Graham Robson

If you think you have what it takes then the Britain’s Got Talent Production Team will be visiting the Zone Bar on St James’s Street in Brighton for pre-auditions on Monday, September 7 from 6pm.

Britain's Got Talent

The team will be looking for a range of fresh talent, such as magicians, drag queens, magicians and comedians, and they will be filming potential contestants and having a quick chat with them on camera.

Sharon Barr, the Zone’s Owner, said: “It is a great opportunity for anyone wishing to go on Britain’s Got Talent to bypass the 5 hour queues at the main auditions. Everyone is welcome; amateur or professional.”

To enter, email Sharon: sharon.barr@sky.com, telephone 01273 682249 or message her on Facebook with your name and number.

Event: Pre-Auditions for Britain’s Got Talent

Where: The Zone Bar, 33 St James’s St, Brighton BN2 1RF

When: Monday, September 7 from 6pm

Gscene comment

Posted on by Contributor

Just three years ago, the LGBT community held its head in collective shame as news was splashed over the front page of the Argus that the charity that organised Brighton Pride, (Pride South East Ltd.) had ceased trading with debts of over £280,000.

WEB.600

In just three years the situation has been completely turned around and Brighton Pride CIC has been able to announce today it has raised a magnificent £100,000 for good causes from this years event, bringing the grand total raised over the last three years while the present organisers have been associated with the event to over £200,000.

Brighton Pride is the largest event staged in the city each year. It generates a fortune for local businesses and puts the international spotlight onto the city.

Pride is now finally what it should always have been, an annual fundraiser to benefit LGBT/HIV community groups.

This year Pride cost more than a million pounds to stage. Too much of that money relies on ticket sales. A bad weather forecast on the weekend before Pride kills tickets sales and can put the success of the event at risk, especially its fundraising element as the money raised comes from £1, ring fenced from each ticket sold.

If you are a business the best way to support Brighton Pride and your LGBT+ customers is by offering financial support to Pride in the way of sponsorship.

If you see a company or business flying a banner saying “SUPPORTING BRIGHTON PRIDE” or some similar phrase, go in and ask them how exactly they are supporting Brighton Pride and our fight for equality.

Tell them the best way to support Brighton Pride is by making a financial contribution.

Some large businesses show their support for Pride by appearing on the Pride Parade. That is wonderful, but bottom line, appearing on the Pride parade is a benefit to the businesses, a PR opportunity and of little benefit in helping solve the problems Pride organisers encounter each year in finding the money to stage the event.

I have monitored Prides in Brighton & Hove since this magazine started in 1992. This year I witnessed more blagging for freebies from companies and individuals who are desperate to show their diversity credentials and be associated with the event, but don’t want to pay for the privilege. This ‘something for nothing’ culture will cripple the event is it continues.

Brighton Pride is a fundraiser and is the only way in the short to medium term we will be able to secure the future of LGBT and HIV organisations in the city.

The event generates a fortune to all local businesses both gay and straight and everyone that benefits should be prepared to put their hands in their pockets and help with the costs of financing their biggest pay-day of the year.

Indications are that police and possibly council costs to Pride are to rise over the next three years while at the same time the annual grant to Pride from the council’s main grants budget will reduce. The only way those increases can be paid for is by the ticket prices going up.

Early indications are that this years ‘Early Bird’ tickets scheme was abused by ticket touts who were selling those early bird tickets outside the park on the day at inflated prices. Organisers are presently looking at how to solve that problem next year.

Whatever solution they find, the best way you can help secure the future of Brighton Pride in 2016 and beyond is to purchase early bird tickets as soon as they are released. This creates the working capital that gets the Pride organisation through the cold winter months when they have no income coming in and is your investment not only in the future of Brighton Pride but also the future of all the LGBT/HIV organisations that are now dependent on the funds it raises each year.

It is a miracle that the fortunes of Brighton Pride have been turned round in such a short time and that has been done by the efforts of Pride Director Paul Kemp, Dulcie Weaver and a small team of professional people they have around them.

For years the community and to some extent statutory authorities stood by and allowed successive Pride administrations to run up massive debts, in their desire to be the biggest and best Pride in the country.

Community Pride does not come from being the biggest or the best, it comes from doing Pride for the right reasons. It is imperative that we never forget that Brighton Pride is a fundraiser to secure the future of local LGBT and HIV organisations.

Buy your ticket for 2016 early and buy it with Pride. We finally have a Pride model which will guarantee the future of the LGBT and HIV organisations that provide effective front line services to LGBT people in the city and by buying your ticket early, you are investing in the future of those organisations as well as securing the future of Pride.

If you can’t afford to buy a ticket you can have a free ticket for the park by donating two hours of your time to Pride. Is there a better way of supporting your community?

Brighton Pride raise £100,000 for good causes

Posted on by Gary Hart

The organisers of Brighton Pride have broken all fundraising targets this year, raising over £100,000 for local LGBT/HIV organisations and good causes.

WEB.600

Legends are once again the largest contributors to this year event having donated £5,000 to sponsor the Cabaret Tent and raising £1,542.27 at the annual Sunday Pride Cabaret Fundraiser for the Rainbow Fund which included a personal donation of £1,000 from Tony Chapman, owner of Legends.

The Rainbow Fund, will receive £90,000 making the total donated by Brighton Pride to the fund over the past three years to more than £200,000. A further £10,000 will be donated to a new Community Impact Fund.

Pride 2015 cost over £1.2 Million to stage. Security costs alone topped £162,350 with additional costs of £24,000 for Police support. The security alert on the Pride parade added an extra £12,000 to overall costs.

The Pride Village Party cost £166,404 which included security costs of £45,141.60 and additional Police support costs of £12,000.

Contributions from venues benefitting from the Pride Village Party (this equates to £250 for small venues and £500 for large venues) raised £7,750 towards Pride’s Social Impact Fund which will benefit areas in the city inconvenienced by Pride.

Paul Kemp: Director of Pride
Paul Kemp: Director of Pride

Paul Kemp, Director of Brighton Pride CIC, said: “We would like to thank everyone who helped us raise this record amount to benefit local LGBT and HIV organisations providing effective front line services to the LGBT communities in Brighton & Hove.

“While Pride’s sole aim is to provide benefit to the community there is a misconception that Pride makes huge profits from the Pride weekend. All ticket revenue raised goes directly to the operational and running costs of producing the Pride Festival, Pride Community Parade, Pride Village Party and Pride’s community fundraising campaigns.

“We’d like to thank our volunteers, Pride sponsors, local businesses and our statutory partners that help us deliver Pride each year, however, Pride faces significant challenges over the next few years with anticipated extra costs for Cityclean, security and policing, and big decisions will need to be made on the type of Pride we’d like to see in future and how it’s funded.

“We are disappointed that more money has not be raised from collection tins towards the new Social Impact Fund and that so many shops and venues along the parade route and City declined to take collection tins, publicity posters and help with our fundraising, but we still managed to raise almost £10,000 towards this years fund which is a great start.

“We hope in future that more local businesses and corporate organisations that benefit from the bumper weekend of business Pride brings to the city will help to contribute to our fundraising effort rather than just reaping the financial rewards.”

As we go to print the only LGBT business that Pride could tell us had raised money towards Pride’s fundraising total other than Legends, was Charles Street who raised £1,000 from a door charge on the Thursday and Friday night of Pride week and Charles Street, The A-Bar and Andy Tull all made a donation of £50 each to help towards the cost of helping the LGBT Community Safety Forum make Pride accessible to disabled people.

Pride will publish a full breakdown of venue fundraising contributions in their annual review document later this year.

LGBTQ street theatre a huge success

Posted on by Gary Hart

What makes lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) lives feel really ‘liveable’, not just bearable?

Liveable Lives street theatre
Photo by Lorenza Ippolito: Liveable Lives street theatre on Sunday, August 9

On Saturday, 8 and Sunday 9 of August, LGBTQ people from Brighton took part in a series of exciting and entertaining public street theatre performances to showcase their own ideas about liveable lives!

Saturday 8 saw participants take part in an Identity Twister gameshow on The Level, falling over themselves and each other as they struggled to maintain the identities society imposed on them – before disrupting the show by tearing up their unwanted labels!

On Sunday 9, another group took to the beach and performed a chain of short monologues entitled Words To Live By, exploring words that make their LGBTQ lives feel liveable or not liveable – Sensuality, Disability, Friendship and more – before coming together in praise of Community.

Photo by Lorenza Ippolito: Liveable Lives street theatre on Saturday
Photo by Lorenza Ippolito: Liveable Lives street theatre on Saturday, August 8

These performances were put together and performed by participants in just a single day as part of the Liveable Lives project. Queer activists from Indian LBT group Sappho For Equality guided participants through sharing their experiences and ideas, and putting them ‘into action’ in a fun and engaging show. The workshops, performances and audience reactions were recorded, and will be available on YouTube and the project’s website liveablelives.org in the coming months. You can also read a detailed account of both workshops and performances on the website.

Liveable Lives is a transnational research project led by the University of Brighton in the UK and activist group Sappho For Equality in India. Since November 2014, LGBTQ people have been sharing their ideas and experiences of what makes life liveable at interactive workshops and through the project’s website liveablelives.org.

IF you missed the performances you can still take part in the project by signing up to the website, completing surveys and sharing ideas with UK and Indian LGBTQ people via the website’s discussion board!

 

Brighton Pride up for ‘Best Event’ award

Posted on by Graham Robson

Brighton Pride is a finalist in the Best Event category at the tenth Brighton and Hove Business Awards (BAHBAs), which will take place at All Saints Church in Hove on Friday, September 4 from 4.30pm.

Brighton & Hove Business Awards

This year, Brighton Pride celebrated 25 years of Pride in the City with thousands of revellers from far and wide celebrating the theme of Carnival of Diversity on the Parade, in Preston Park and on St James’s Street.

Paul Kemp
Paul Kemp

Paul Kemp, Director of Brighton Pride, said: “We’re thrilled that Pride has been nominated in the Best Event category.

“Pride is the biggest single event in our city and we’re immensely proud to have raised over £200,000 for community good causes in the last three years.

“Without the ongoing support of our partners and volunteers this would not have been possible. We hope even more local businesses will get involved and support Pride in 2016.”

The BAHBAs, acknowledge and celebrate the diversity and uniqueness of Brighton & Hove and celebrate those companies, organisations, events and individuals who really build the Brighton brand.

Attended by 350 of Brighton’s leading business people, the evening will start with a drinks reception at 4.30pm. Guests will then be treated to a sumptuous afternoon tea, followed by the awards presented by stand-up comedian Stephen Grant at 6.30pm with dancing from 8pm.

Event: The Brighton and Hove Business Awards 2015

Where: All Saints Church, The Drive, Hove, BN3 3QE

When: Friday, September 4

Time: at 4.30pm

To see a full list of nominees and to book tickets for the BAHBAs, click here: 

Latest News

Cabaret REVIEW: Andrew Pepper stuns with ‘House of Pepper’ at Crazy Coqs
Birmingham Birmingham’s Flatpack Film Festival to explore ‘Chinese Queers’
Arts A round-up of queer theatre highlights – from Ty Jeffries’ bon voyage to camp vamps and Eurovision: Your Decision
International News Celebrate the diversity of LGBTQ+ families with the 13th annual International Family Equality Day on May 5
X