Rainbow Fund launch Community Consultation Survey to listen to feedback about services on offer to the LGBT/HIV communities they fund in the city.
The Rainbow Fund receives donations from the Brighton LGBT communities, raised through events such as Brighton Pride and Brighton Bear Weekend, fundraising by venues, and donations from individuals throughout the year.
Those funds then go back into the Brighton and Hove LGBT and HIV communities, via grants to groups and organisations supporting those communities.
Chris Gull
Chris Gull, Chair of The Rainbow Fund, said:“We are asking as many people as possible to let us know what they think are the priorities for supporting our communities, how the existing groups and organisations are doing, and whether there are sections of these communities that are not being reached, or not well served. We also want to hear suggestions for where we should be spending the funds, and what needs to be achieved, perhaps changes that need to be made.
“We are consulting with the communities, and those that already engage with us, directly through an online document – mostly asking for anonymous comments and suggestions.
“The comments will be fed directly into the decision-making process for the next round of grant applications, and will inform the decisions we make in moving the Rainbow Fund forward.”
To complete the Community Consultation survey, click here:
Rainbow Fund invites applications for grants from Brighton and Hove groups and organisations who provide services to our LGBT and HIV communities.
Preference will be given to groups and organisations that are LGBT and volunteer led.
Chris Gull
Chris Gull, Chair of The Rainbow Fund, said: “This year we are not imposing a maximum on the value of the grants applied for, nor on the number of applications that any group or organisation can make. We’re expecting that this may allow more innovation, and needs led projects to be suggested. The independent grants panel, who are the ones that assess the applications and advise us, will be looking for value for money, as well as quality of projects.
Organisations who are members of the LGBT Small Groups – Working to Connect network may also apply for grants toward their core costs, up to a maximum of £2,000 per year.
Application forms can be found on the Rainbow Fund website.
The closing date for applications is Friday, August 5 at 6pm. The grants panel will meet the following week, follow-up queries raised at the grants panel meeting over the following two weeks, and make final decisions by the end of August.
Cheques will be issued to the successful applicants at the beginning of September.
In making their decision, the grants panel will have access to responses from the Community Consultation Survey which The Rainbow Fund has launched today.
To fill in Community Consultation Survey, click here:
Parliamentarians and HIV advocates call for greater collaboration between local authorities, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and NHS England for an integrated approach to the commissioning of HIV testing services.
The Halve It campaign and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on HIV & AIDS organised a Halfway to World Aids Day Event in parliament today (July 7), bringing MPs, peers and advocates together to tackle the continued public health challenges around HIV testing.
Halve It is a coalition of 31 HIV organisations working with all levels of government and the NHS to halve the proportion of people undiagnosed and late diagnosed with HIV by 2020.
Most recent figures show there has been a 37% reduction in late diagnosed and undiagnosed HIV since the beginning of the Halve It campaign.
The event brought wide variety of audience members including Halve It Steering Group members and supporters from clinical, commissioning, peer support and advocacy backgrounds.
The panel session included key speakers who have played a fundamental role throughout the course of the Halve It campaign and was chaired by long-standing Halve It supporter and Vice-Chair of the All Parties Parliamentary Group on HIV & AIDS, Stuart Andrew MP who pledged his support for “collaborative commissioning between all stakeholders involved in HIV testing services.”
Speakers included Public Health England who discussed the epidemiology of HIV in the UK, British HIV Association who gave a clinical perspective on testing and the National AIDS Trust (NAT) who demonstrated how this information can be turned into policy and action.
Deborah Gold from NAT summed up the event as “an excellent opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the coalition and the wider HIV community” and called for “a more joined up approach to HIV testing services” to demonstrate that together we can halve it.
Halve It is a campaign whose members represent the following organisations:
♦ African Health Policy Network
♦ All-Party Parliamentary Group on HIV and AIDS
♦ Barts Health NHS Trust
♦ British Association for Sexual Health and HIV
♦ British HIV Association
♦ Department of Health*
♦ Elton John AIDS Foundation
♦ Gilead Sciences
♦ HIV Clinical Reference Group
♦ HIV Pharmacy Association
♦ LGBT Foundation
♦ Local Government Association*
♦ London HIV Prevention Programme*
♦ The Martin Fisher Foundation
♦ MEDFASH
♦ National AIDS Trust
♦ National HIV Nurses Association
♦ National Institute for Health and Care Excellence*
Two award-winning gay filmmakers, Neil Ely and Lloyd Eyre-Morgan, are looking for support to develop their short horror flick, Kill Pill, into a feature-length film.
Pip Anderson
Starring hunky Star Wars actor Pip Anderson as a raging cannibal, Kill Pill is set against the backdrop of MADchester in 1990 when a group of teenagers must survive the night after a deadly experimental ecstasy tablet turns their mates into raging cannibals at a house party.
Kill Pill is to be made on a £30,500 budget, produced to cinema standard quality and the team are hopeful that it will tour horror film festivals worldwide.
The film is already slotted to have its World Premiere screening as part of this year’s Iris Prize Festival taking place in Cardiff this October.
Andrea Leadsom MP, one of the three remaining candidates in the race to be the next Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party fails to respond to LGBT Tory about her views on LGBT issues.
Andrea Leadsom MP
LGBTory is the affiliated national organisation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans Conservatives who provide an LGBT voice within the party, and a Conservative voice in the LGBT community.
LGBTory asked each current leadership candidate, to provide a short statement on why members of the LGBT+ community should support them. Despite several requests Andrea Leadom failed to respond. She ‘positively abstained’ on equal marrinage in 2013, voting both in favour and against while citing the views of her constituents. She said at the time: “This is to reflect my support for the genuine love and commitment of same sex partners, but also to register my protest at the unacceptability of the timing and wording of this legislation, as well as to represent the concerns of so many of my constituents who feel very deeply that this proposal is simply wrong.”
Theresa May MP – current Home Secretary
The Rt Hon. Theresa May MP, said:“When I launched my campaign for the leadership I set out my belief in building a country that works for everyone. Central to that vision is a commitment to equality, and I will always stand up for the rights of LGBT people.
“I supported Civil Partnerships in 2004, and was proud to sponsor the legislation that introduced full marriage equality in 2013 because I believe marriage should be for everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation. I didn’t believe the State should perpetuate discrimination and prejudice against LGBT people. That’s why equal marriage was a hugely significant social reform. And it also made a powerful and important statement that as a country we value and respect everyone.
“For me, equality is about fairness. It is simply wrong for anyone to face discrimination or abuse because of who they are or who they love. A Conservative Government under my leadership would be unequivocally committed to supporting LGBT people, and continuing the vital task of tackling hate crime, homophobia and transphobia – both in the UK and around the world.
“I firmly believe in an open, inclusive, One Nation agenda of social reform which will change our country for the better. That is what I would offer as Prime Minister.”
Michael Gove MP – current Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
A spokesman for the Rt Hon. Michael Gove MP said:“Michael is proud to have voted in favour of equal marriage. As Prime Minister, he would continue to stand up for LGBTQ+ rights at home and abroad.
Michael Gove’s leadership team also pointed to his leadership launch speech, which included a specific reference to supporting equality, diversity and LGBT+ issues:
“We need, too, a big and bold vision to ensure that Britain continues to be the most decent and gentle country in the world. A place known for its tolerance. Where we treat each other with kindness and respect. In the Britain I want to build, where we live, how we love, the religions we follow, the places we come from – these must be causes of celebration and joy, not division and suspicion. In his premiership, David Cameron made great strides on this – not least by making it possible for gay people to marry the people they love.”
It is LGBTory’s view that it is vital that the next leader of the Conservative Party, and Prime Minister, continues the work of David Cameron to improve LGBT+ rights; tackle biphobia, transpobia, homophobia and discrimination; right historical wrongs; and act as a strong voice for LGBT+ rights internationally.
Colm Howard-Lloyd
Chairman of LGBTory, Colm Howard-Lloyd, said:“David Cameron steps down as Prime Minister leaving an outstanding record of furthering LGBT+ rights in the UK, and the world.
“The new Conservative Party leader, and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, must have a good record on LGBT rights, and build on Cameron’s work to improve equality in UK and around the world. I am pleased that those candidates that responded to us have set out a vision that will continue the Conservative Party being a party of equality. LGBTory looks forward to the opportunity of working as closely with the next Prime Minister as we have done with the current.”
The next candidate to be eliminated will be announced at 5pm this afternoon (July 7).
Brighton Trades Council will hold a rally in support of Jeremy Corbyn on Saturday, July 9 at 2pm at the Brighthelm Centre.
The Rally is being organised by the Brighton Trades Council “to defend the democratically elected leader of the Labour Party” and will take place prior to the Brighton and Hove Labour Party AGM.
Speakers at the rally will include: Seema Chandwani, Tottenham Labour; Jon Rogers, UNSON NEC (speaking in a personal capacity) and Lambeth UNISON activist. Jeremy Corbyn will not be attending the rally.
After the rally Labour members are being encouraged to attend the Brighton and Hove Labour Party AGM at 4pm at City College where pro-Corbyn candidates will be standing for election.
A spokesperson for the organisers, said:“Jeremy Corbyn was elected on a landslide 9 months ago and has passed every electoral test he has faced. Polls just prior to the coup showed Labour ahead of the Tories! The Labour MPs organising this coup do not want a left-wing Labour Government and they are prepared to let the Tories in to stop this.”
The Rainbow Fund receives donations from the Brighton LGBT communities, raised through events such as Brighton Pride and Brighton Bear Weekend, fundraising by venues, and donations from individuals throughout the year.
The Halve It campaign and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on HIV & AIDS organised a Halfway to World Aids Day Event in parliament today (July 7), bringing MPs, peers and advocates together to tackle the continued public health challenges around HIV testing.
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