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Rough sleeping totals in Brighton continue to rise

The number of people sleeping rough and experiencing homelessness in the Brighton & Hove continues to rise despite considerable resources being allocated to help ease the problem.

This year’s rough sleeper review produced by the government confirms the number of rough sleepers in Brighton & Hove as 178 in the annual winter estimate.

The best chance for a homeless person to get off the streets is with professional help. Charities and support agencies help homeless people every day of the year 24 hours a day and outreach workers are in regular contact with people on the street, caring for their practical needs (such as food and clothing) as well as providing them with support to help rebuild their lives.

As part of the city-wide approach to rough sleeping, Make Change Count links local charities in an alternative giving and awareness raising campaign.

The campaign has three main aims:

♦ Helping rough sleepers to access support services available and to move away from the streets.
♦ Asking residents to say where they’ve seen those in need so tailored help can be offered.
♦ Suggesting an alternative giving option to donating on the street.

Speaking on behalf of the Make Change Count participating organisations, Colm Keegan, Interim Head of Services, Equinox Brighton, said: “The campaign continues to raise awareness about how people can make informed decisions when giving money or other items to rough sleepers. We’re always keen to say that we’re not telling anyone how they should spend their money, that’s a matter of personal choice.

“We are sharing our experience of working with people in need and know that giving money on the street can be counter-productive. It’s a very human reaction to want to help and to hand over money when asked but this can lead to people becoming entrenched in their current situation when more effective help is available.

“A key part of the campaign is about asking people to say when they are concerned about a rough sleeper. Residents can share their concerns using the Streetlink service which provides outreach workers with the information they need to support people on our streets into accessing services to change their lives.

“We know Brighton & Hove is a caring compassionate city where people really do want to make change count.”

This year’s Make Change Count campaign which launched last Thursday (Thursday 1 February).sees three additional local charities join the venture.

The existing Make Change Count charities, St Mungo’s, BHT, Nightstop, Equinox and Antifreeze, will be joined by The Clock Tower Sanctuary, YMCA Downslink Group and YMCA Brighton.

To make a donation, click here: Or by texting UMCC18 £3, £5 or £10 to 70070

All money donated will be shared between the organising charities going directly to people sleeping rough. Contributions will be used to provide food, access to shower facilities, healthcare, clothing and support from outreach workers to move people away from the street as well as a wide range of practical help to suit individual needs. No funds raised will be used for administration of the charities.

Make Change Count is supported by Brighton and Hove City Council, Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner.

Cllr Clare Moonan
Cllr Clare Moonan

Cllr Clare Moonan, lead councillor for rough sleeping, said: “We know residents care about vulnerable people on our streets and we’re building on the existing support to help provide support to those in need. The council night shelter running in the Brighton Centre this winter is one way we’re all working together to make a difference. With scarce resources and rising demand, we need to work together. The Make Change Count campaign is one way we can all make sure help goes directly to those in need. These charities are doing a fantastic job and we need to remember how much higher the number of rough sleepers would be without the dedication of all involved. Yet while there is anyone sleeping rough in the city there is still more we can and will do.”

What do to if you’re worried about someone on the streets in Brighton & Hove:

If you are concerned about someone sleeping rough in the city, you can use the Streetlink website to send an alert. The details you provide are sent to the local outreach service to help them find the individual and connect them to support (www.streetlink.org.uk or 0300 500 0914). Outreach workers are experienced in supporting people to move away from the streets.

Pride tickets go on sale exclusively to BN residents on Monday morning at 9.30am

Demand for tickets to Brighton Pride this year exceed organisers expectations, causing the new Pride ticketing platform to crash.

In order for as many local BN residents to attend this year’s Festival on Preston Park, tickets for the main event on Saturday, August 4 will go on sale exclusively to BN residents on Monday morning, February 5.

Since announcing the headline act Brighton Pride’s new ticketing platform has struggled to meet the demand for tickets and keeps crashing.

In an effort to stop ticket touts profiteering ticket sales are now limited to two tickets per person and you must attend in person to buy these tickets.

5,000 paper tickets for the main event only on Saturday, August 4 will be available for sale  at the following three venues this coming Monday morning, February 5, 2018.

Sussex Beacon Shop, 130 St James Street from 9.30am. (There will be a £1.50 booking fee which goes directly to the Sussex Beacon).

Nice n Naughty, 32 St James Street, BN2 1RF from 10am. (There will be a £1 booking fee)

Legends, 31-34 Marine Parade, Brighton, Bn2 1TR from 1pm.

Payment accepted only in cash and transactions will be limited to two tickets per person. Take photo ID and proof of BN postcode address (utility bill, bank statement or council tax bill) along with you.

A further allocation of 8,000 tickets will be available on Thursday, February 15 from 10am at the B Right On LGBT Community Festival Box Office at the Phil Starr Pavilion, Victoria Gardens, Brighton. (There will be a £1 booking fee which goes directly towards the work of the Brighton & Hove, LGBT Community Safety Forum).

Data evaluation by Brighton Pride for on-line sales to date reveals that over 56% of tickets already sold have gone to BN postcodes, previous visitors to the Brighton Pride festival and higher than for the Pet Shop Boys in 2017.

Sales of wrist bands for the Pride Village Party are moving quicker than last year with over 10,000 being sold on-line since going on sale.

The independent Brighton based social media analytics firm Brandwatch have crunched the numbers on Twitter’s reaction to the announcement that Spears will be headlining Pride in August.

“It’s clear that people are very excited about the upcoming concert”, said Joshua Boyd, content and community manager at Brandwatch.

“It’s rare that you’d see a local event generate such a big reaction, and the scramble for tickets is a big part of all that conversation.”

Brandwatch found that since the announcement men have been out-tweeting women about the concert revealing 54 per cent of gender categorised authors were male and 46 per cent were female.

If you cannot afford to buy a ticket to go to a paid event at Brighton Pride, donate two hours of your time to help Pride during the year and you will get a free ticket to the park.

For more information about volunteering, click here:

Prominent Turkish LGBT+ activist arrested at home in Ankara

This morning, February 2, Ali Erol, a prominent Turkish human rights activist and a founder of Kaos GL Association, Turkey’s first registered LGBT organisation, was arrested and detained in a home he shares with his partner.

Ali Erol
Ali Erol

Indications of the reasons for his arrest are yet unknown, though Kaos GL reports that Erol’s social media posts were included in the authorities’ detention warrant.

Homosexuality is not a criminal offence in Turkey,  however discrimination against LGBT+ people, including arbitrary arrests and targeting by authorities, is rampant and on the rise.

Jessica Stern
Jessica Stern

Commenting on the arrest, Jessica Stern, OutRight Action International Executive Director, says: “OutRight calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Turkish LGBT+ human rights activist Ali Erol. He is an unjust casualty of an increasingly authoritarian government attacking democracy and curtailing the rights of Turkish citizens exercising their rights to expression and assembly. The persecution of LGBT+, and all, Turkish human rights defenders needs to stop now.”

In November 2017, the governor of Ankara banned all LGBT+ related events in the Turkish capital, saying all such events could spur public animosity from other groups and the need to maintain safety and security. While

Despite Kaos GL and another Ankara based LGBT+ group challenging the ban as unconstitutional, it remains in place indefinitely.

Istanbul Pride events have been banned by the city’s governor for the past three years. Pride marchers, who marched despite the ban, were met with rubber bullets and arrests.

Following a failed military coup in July 2016, dissenters, opposition leaders, human rights activists, and journalists in Turkey have been heavily persecuted and arrested with reports of the arrests of over 50,000 people.

Current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan authoritarian rule is one that also seeks to impose a more conservative interpretation of Islam on the population.

Yildiz Tar, Media and Communications Coordinator for Kaos GL, says: “Having such little information about the detention of a prominent figure of the LGBT+ movement and founder of Kaos GL is unlawful and worrying.

“If you recall, Ankara Governorship banned LGBT+ events for an indefinite period in November. This detention is an intervention in both freedom of expression and LGBT+ rights. We hope this injustice will be corrected.”

Erol was the recipient of the prestigious David Kato Vision & Voice Award for 2013.

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