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Silent Chain for Europe on Saturday December 10

To mark Human Rights Day on Saturday, December 10, concerned Europeans in Brighton and Hove will form a Silent Chain for Europe.

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Gather at 12 noon outside the Unitarian Church, New Road, and link arms in silence with others to demonstrate against the removal of these rights.

Other Silent Chains will take place at the same date and time elsewhere in the UK including London, Manchester, Oxford and York.

This is event is organised by The Brighton & Hove 48%, working with Brighton and Hove for Europe and Proud Europeans.

“I came to the UK from Germany in 1981,” says Petra Kopp, one of the event organisers. “I have lived and worked here ever since and consider Brighton my home – yet I now feel like a bargaining chip in a political fight. I need assurance that my status as a member of British society is secured.”

Petra is one of approximately 3 million EU citizens living in the UK and is now faced with the prospect of having to apply for permanent residence and citizenship to secure her future in the UK.

“As a British citizen I am ashamed about the xenophobia that has surfaced in this country since the Referendum result in June,” says Felton Shortall, who is also contributing to this event. “We need to stand up for the rights of the people whose future is threatened by the prospect of Brexit.”

Susie Courtault from Proud Europeans, says: “We are a grassroots cross-party/no party campaign group which has sprung up because we are genuinely concerned about the loss of the rights we have enjoyed through our membership of the EU. We are affiliated to the European Movement which is campaigning to retain our EU citizenship, and our aim is to help promote this idea through a petition.”

For more information, click here:

 

PREVIEW: Good Vibrations Christmas Concert

Hear the Martlets Good Vibrations choir celebrate Christmas with a mix of of pop, classics and seasonal songs.

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The choir is made up of patients, carers, staff, nurses, volunteers, members of the local community and is conducted by Aneesa Chaudhry who is also musical director of the Rainbow Chorus, Brighton’s only LGBT chorus.

Good Vibrations meet at the Martlets Hospice twice a week, on Friday afternoons and Tuesday evenings. New members to the choir are always welcome.

At the concert there will be:

  • Fantastic performance by the Good Vibrations choir
  • A licensed bar with soft drinks available
  • Delicious cake
  • Raffle with great prizes
Aneesa Chaudhry: Musical Director
Aneesa Chaudhry: Musical Director

Event: Good Vibrations Christmas Concert

Where: St George’s Church, St George’s Rd, Brighton BN2 1ED

When: Friday, December 16

Time: 7.30pm

Cost: Tickets: £10 standard admission and £8 for concessions

To book tickets online, click here:

PREVIEW: Miss Hope Springs – ‘Now it’s Christmas Time’

Miss Hope Springs, the towering blonde floor-to-ceiling sequinned creation of composer, lyricist, pianist and comic actor Ty Jeffries, returns for a glitzy festive show, Now It’s Christmas Time, at the Nightingale Room (above the Grand Central) in Brighton on Wednesday, December 14 from 8pm.

Miss Hope Springs
Miss Hope Springs

Accompanied by a Hot Jazz Combo on throbbing double bass and sizzling percussion, you’ll hear Hope’s blend of finger-snapping pop, romantic rhumbas and sassy bossa novas as she performs her original self penned seasonal songs, such as Santa is a Woman, Christmas Calypso and Paper Snow, interspersed with scandalous showbiz revelations, all served with a frosting of vintage Vegas glitz and a healthy side-order of festive schmaltz.


Event: MISS HOPE SPRINGS – Now It’s Christmas Time.

When: Wednesday, December 14.

Where: The Nightingale Room (above the Grand Central), 29-30 Surrey Street, Brighton, BN1 3PA

Time: 8pm

Cost: £20

To buy tickets online, click here:

Lady Gaga visits The Albert Kennedy Trust in London

One of the biggest pop stars on the planet visits The Albert Kennedy Trust to throw a spotlight on LGBT+ youth homelessness.

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Global pop superstar Lady Gaga visited the offices of The Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT) in London yesterday, November 7,  where she spoke with a number of young lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT+) people. Her visit threw a spotlight on LGBT+ youth homelessness.

The surprise visit, which was arranged by The Elton John AIDS Foundation, saw Gaga arrive at the office bearing gifts, blankets and lots of Christmas cake. A number of young LGBT+ people who are currently accessing AKT services met with Gaga, to talk about the impact AKT has had on their lives.

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Gaga spent a few hours in the company of young people, staff and volunteers at AKT.

She said: “I went to the inspiring Albert Kennedy Trust in London to meet some homeless and suffering LGBTQ youth and #ShareKindness on behalf of the Born This Way Foundation They are so sweet, talented, and ambitious. But the holidays are very different for them so we brought some gifts and bonded, sharing our life stories and I did some research on what they really need to survive. They need positive words and donations to keep LGBTQ homeless children who were abandoned off the streets and out of shelters that are dangerous. They are normal good kids, I hung out with them all day. They deserve a real shot at life.”

Tim Sigsworth MBE
Tim Sigsworth MBE

Tim Sigsworth MBE, Chief Executive at AKT, added: “What an incredible day for The Albert Kennedy Trust, its young people and staff team. To have her support is incredibly important. The young people really did get so much out of it, she spoke to each of them individually and spent time really hearing them out. She truly is a beautiful person: authentic, insightful, empathic. Our young people will remember today for the rest of their lives. We’re proud to have Lady Gaga on board at AKT as an Ambassador and Patron. I’d like to thank everyone at The Elton John AIDS Foundation too, for helping to make today possible.”

Before leaving the office, Gaga left an empowering message on the office wall which said: “If you want to heal, you have to feel. Restore your dignity, reclaim your power.”

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Following her visit, Lady Gaga posted on her social media accounts the importance of supporting AKT’s No Room For Hate campaign, and donating to The Albert Kennedy Trust.

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To make a donation to AKT, click here:

Alternatively, you can text NRFH16 £10 to 70070 and donate £10 immediately.

 

The Albert Kennedy Trust provides safe homes – from emergency accommodation, to homes with Carers, mentoring, training and support to young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. This Winter, there are 15,000-20,000 homeless young people in the UK, with up to 24% estimated to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans.

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Do you have a spare room or spare time to help homeless people in your community?

web-300Sussex Nightstop is a community response to youth homelessness, providing accommodation in the homes of trained and supported volunteers.

These volunteers are people from the wide and varied communities of Brighton & Hove who have a spare room or some spare time and want to help make a difference in their local community.

This November Nightstop were one of the finalists in this year’s BCC Sussex Community Heroes Awards, recognising the important work of their volunteers in supporting vulnerable young people who are homeless and at risk of rough sleeping.

In Brighton their amazing volunteers, trained and supported by Nightstop, opened up their homes and accommodated and supported 50 young people for over 500 nights in 2015.

As the housing situation in Brighton becomes ever more pressured and increasingly difficult for young people to move into supported accommodation or rent privately, more than ever Nightstop hosts are needed to provide longer-term accommodation.

Nightstop are currently in need of more hosts to provide longer-term accommodation for young people, supporting 16-25 years olds in their homes from a week up to a month at a time.

They also need volunteers to befriend and mentor young people, providing some one-to-one support during their stay in Nightstop and into settled housing.

If you have a spare room or some spare time and would like to help to prevent homelessness and rough sleeping locally, contact the Nightstop team for more information about how you can be involved and help out by emailing: coodinator@sussexnightstop.org.uk

Or telephone: 07500 770996

For more information about Sussex Nightstop, click here: 

To make a donation to Nightstop, click here:

‘Legitimacy Report’ praises Surrey Police

An independent report praises the fairness and respect shown by Surrey Police to the public.

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The report from Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC), which covers Legitimacy, rated the Force overall as Good and also recognised the commitment to be fair and respectful to officers and staff.

Chief Constable, Nick Ephgrave
Chief Constable, Nick Ephgrave

Chief Constable, Nick Ephgrave, said: “We work incredibly hard to ensure that the public are treated with the respect they deserve, and support our workforce to uphold the highest ethical standards in serving their communities.

“This report demonstrates our commitment to embedding ethical behaviours and providing the support to our officers and staff through wellbeing services. It also rightly highlights the important role that our internal Anti-Corruption Unit plays in upholding our standards.

“Whilst I am pleased with our progress in this area, I am determined to continue with improvements and will guard against complacency. I recognise that there is more that can be done and in particular there is a need to redouble our efforts in further supporting our staff in what is a physically and mentally demanding job.

“The report highlights some areas that are already being addressed through, amongst other things, the recommendations from the recent review of our new policing model, Policing in Your Neighbourhood.”

The report mentions that the Force:

♦ Has good systems in place to ensure that its workforce behaves ethically and lawfully. Workforce wellbeing services are good.

♦ Good systems to find and assess intelligence about potential corruption are in place and the Force has an experienced and efficient anti-corruption unit (ACU). Its ‘in house’ anonymous reporting system is effective.

♦ Communicates with groups who may have less trust and confidence in the police, including use of surveys, the independent advisory group and professional reference groups.

♦ Has made a significant investment in wellbeing services for staff and officers.

♦ Is good at ensuring that the workforce behaves ethically and lawfully and that the Code of Ethics is well understood.

To follow Surrey Police, click here:   

For all non-emergency policing matters there are a number of ways to contact Surrey Police, including reporting online at https://report.police.uk/ and telephoning 101.

Call 999 if you have a genuine emergency requiring the attendance of the police (eg a crime is in progress or someone is in immediate danger)

You can call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 if you have information about a crime and don’t want to leave your name.

 

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