Do you have a few hours free each week to help improve the health and well-being of someone who is isolated?
TERRY is eighty-one years old – Nick who visits Terry weekly, is a volunteer at Impetus, a Brighton & Hove charity which connects people together to reduce isolation and improve health and wellbeing.
Today Nick collected Terry’s prescription then took him to a cafe for tea and cake. They talked, laughed and shared confidences together.
Nick said:“Days spent in his flat alone can be long, boring and depressing for Terry. He has mobility issues and his vision is declining; he can’t watch TV or read.
“Providing companionship for someone who’s lonely, by volunteering with Impetus, was a way of doing something for the community. I did not expect to find a friend!”
“It’s a privilege to be able to bring some joy and happiness into Terry’s life.”
Terry says when he is with Nick he “forgets about his problems.”
If like Nick you can spare an hour a week to visit a neighbour, get in touch with the Neighbourhood Care Scheme at Impetus. No experience is necessary. Call 01273 775888 or email: ncs@bh-impetus.org
Brighton Bear’s returned to B’e’ar Broadway for another Bear-a-oke Christmas Party on December 8, hosted by the talented Jon B and Candi Rell.
THE fun-filled night saw young, old and even some bar staff take to the stage to belt out their favourite karaoke classics.
The total raised on the night was £330.94 which included a generous donation from Michael McGarrigle the joint owner of Bar Broadway.
The party continued late into the night next door at Subline at Jingle Bears where everyone tucked into mince pies and vodka jellies.
The total raised at Subline was £370 bringing the total raised by Brighton Bear Weekend for the Rainbow Fund to £701.94.
The Rainbow Fund give grants to local LGBT/HIV organisations who deliver effective front line services to LGBT+ people in the city.
Graham Munday
Graham Munday, Chair of Brighton Bear Weekend said:“It really feels like Christmas is starting when we have our Very Beary Christmas Weekend with Bear-Patrol. The Bear-a-oke had a really good atmosphere and the party continued into the wee hours in Subline. Thank you to all who came down to support us. It was good to meet so many people.
“I must thank Michael and all the staff at Bar Broadway, especially the singing ones, for all the hard work of keeping everyone’s glasses filled. Thanks to Steve Lee and the guys down at Subline who helped even Father Christmas to have a good night.
“I think it is great when the community works together. It achieves much more. With that in mind, thank you to Danny Dwyer, Bear-Patrol and the Camelford Arms for the Sunday part of the weekend which raised £808.24 bringing the total raised for The Rainbow Fund from ‘A Very Beary Christmas Weekend’ to £1,503.18.
Bear-a-oke Christmas Party at Bar Broadway
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The Rainbow Fund give grants to local LGBT/HIV groups who deliver effective front line services to LGBT+ people in Brighton and Hove.
In the most recent grants round in October, 2018, local groups received grants totalling £146,481 from the Fund.
These groups included: Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents, Rainbow Families, My Genderation, MenTalkHealth, Peer Action, Older and Out, Longhill School LGBTU group, Marlborough CIC QTIPOC project, Sussex Beacon, The Rainbow Chorus, Lunch Positive, MindOut, Clare Project, Switchboard, Allsort Youth Project, The Brighton and Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum.
December was an exceptionally busy month at Lunch Positive, the weekly lunch club for people who are HIV positive.
IT started with huge appreciation given by the members and volunteers following the empowering speech made in Parliament by Kemptown & Peacehaven MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle about being HIV-positive for the last ten years.
This was especially poignant to everyone at Lunch Positive as during the speech the MP referred to Lunch Positive founder Gary Pargeter being an inspiration for him to talk about being HIV-positive in public for the first time, and his reflections on the work of the charity.
The Mayor of Brighton & Hove Councillor Dee Simson lunched with members on Friday, November 30 to celebrate World AIDS Day on December 1.
The Mayor spoke of the need to combat HIV stigma, and reflected on the continued support many people living with the virus still need. She made a point of talking to everyone present which was much appreciated by all the sixty people present who regularly attend the lunch club each week.
Lunch Positive volunteers and members were involved in helping organise a variety of World AIDS Day activities and events. On World AIDS Day they hosted a community buffet lunch, all prepared by volunteers. Over 50 people attended, including existing friends supporters, and some new faces.
In the evening, Lunch Positive volunteers donated over 100 hours of their time to help stage the World AIDS Day Vigil and Reading of Names, followed by the annual World AIDS Day Charity Concert, which was raising funds for Lunch Positive. Local choirs performing included Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus, Actually Gay Men’s Chorus, Rainbow Chorus, Brighton and London Belles, Resound male voices, Rebelles female voices, Sweet Chilli Singers and Qukelele, the all women ukelele band.
The evening was hosted by Fox Fisher and Owl and a team of fourteen Lunch Positive and Rainbow Chorus members helped provide refreshments to everyone at the concert during the interval.
Lunch Positive also led on involvement in the production of an anti-stigma exhibition, presented at the Rainbow Hub in St James Street. Titled My Brighton, My HIV – Re-framing HIV Stigma the exhibition featured local people with HIV, empowered to be visible and challenging HIV-stigmatising views.
Gary Pargeter
Gary Pargeter, Lunch Positive Service Manager said:“We deeply appreciate everyone’s support of Lunch Positive throughout the year, and always so wonderfully expressed at World AIDS Day. The lunch club service at Lunch Positive is getting ever busier, involving, supporting, and empowering increasing numbers of people, and we are so grateful that this is recognised and valued.
“Small charities like ours, carrying out effective frontline work, make such a difference to the lives of people in our communities, and we are proudly peer-led by people with HIV in everything we do. There is no ‘typical’ person who comes to Lunch Positive, we are a diverse, accepting and inclusive community group.”
However, to demonstrate the impact Lunch Positive make to the lives of positive people, service user, Tommy said :“Before I came to Lunch Positive I was alone, I felt invisible, and I wouldn’t have seen anyone from one day to the next. It’s been a lifeline. I had at times felt like ending it all. Being here has helped me change that feeling. Thank you Lunch Positive.”
Lunch Positive volunteers at World AIDS Day fundraising concert
Move over Vogue because RuPaul’s Drag Race’s fashion forward runner up Naomi Smalls is making us strike a Pose, with her soon to be released debut single (featuring bestie Kim Chi).
Image edited by Ray A-J
THE FABULOUSLY leggy drag Queen of fashion Naomi Smalls teases us with a video for her upcoming single Pose, on December 16.
The season eight runner up, who is currently battling it out for the crown on RuPaul’s Drag Race All stars four, originally debuted 2018’s answer to Vogue on the show last Friday. But fans will have to wait a while before they can download the dance worthy bop – the single won’t be available on iTunes until December 27.
But what is the song about? Naomi gives us all the tea, explaining: “Pose is a celebration of runway, models, glamour and confidence. It highlights the one thing Naomi Smalls does better than any fashion queen out there: Pose.
Naomi Smalls is a fashion model and ‘Pose’ is her dream world. I think it will give viewers an enjoyable glimpse into my chaotic mind,” she decrees.
Alongside the legendary (all legs no dairy) queen, the video also features a cameo from fellow season eight runner up, and bestie, Kim Chi.
The modelesque queen, otherwise known as Davis Heppenstall, first began her life-long fascination with hip-hop and house back in 2016, when she made the move to Chicago. “Windy City DJ’s like Derrick Carter and Michael Serafini got my lanky ass on the dance floor in a way that never happened in the past. Spinning around and posing my heart out was the greatest fun and the most me I have ever felt,” she recalls.
The Rainbow Chorus Christmas concert tonight at St Georges Church in Kemptown has been cancelled at the last minute due to the church being flooded.
THE chorus had worked all afternoon to make the church safe but the decision was made at 5pm this evening to cancel the show and reschedule for January as the flood had damaged the electrics.
Musical Director Aneesa Chaudhry, said:“We are very sorry to cancel the show at the last minute but the safety of the audience has to be our priority.
“We will announce a new date as soon as we have had chance to discuss what dates are available with the church and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
New government white paper shows how the digital first 2021 Census will help shape public services to meet the needs of the LGBT+ communities years to come.
THE Office for National Statistics (ONS) has recommended a new voluntary question on sexual orientation for those aged 16 and over.
In addition to the usual question on being male or female for all ages, there will also be a voluntary question on gender identity in England and Wales for those aged over 16. It was always the intention of ONS that these questions would be voluntary.
The data gathered from these questions will make it easier to monitor inequalities under the anti-discrimination duties of the Equality Act 2010 and to directly plan public services and support for these groups.
John Pullinger
National Statistician, John Pullinger, said:“The Census is for everyone; it gives us all the opportunity to stand up and be counted in democratic debate and policy decisions.
“We have designed it with people at its heart and we consulted widely to ensure it meets the needs of society. Unlike previous Censuses, it will be digital first which will make it easier to complete electronically, with help available for those who need it.”
The date for the digital first census has been confirmed as March 21, 2021, subject to parliamentary approval.
Information gathered by ONS will ensure public services can be targeted into communities and groups where they are needed, in 2021 and beyond.
ONS is transforming the way it collects, processes and shares data and the next census is part of a wider drive towards making more use of data already held and moving surveys online.
In line with previous censuses, ONS will hold a census rehearsal in October 2019 and is currently reviewing which local authority areas will be included.
In this dark, cold twilight Brexit time there’s nothing so heartwarming as the wonderful harmonies of the human singing voice.
CONDUCTED by the charismatic Stefan Holmstrom, these two choirs always challenge themselves but never fail to surprise and entertain their audience.
They packed in nearly 30 items during this joyous evening.
Kicking off with Canada’s oldest carol which was hauntingly beautiful they went on to perform a version of the Holly and Ivy which reminded me very much of the tones of Steeleye Span.
Moving on to Iceland we heard the 800 year old Heyr Hymna with its somber harmonies. When Resound sing quietly there is total quality in their restrained sound. Every item brings its own joy and after the Renaissance Riu Riu, the combined choirs gave us the lullaby – like Noche Anunclada .
After the comic girl – power interlude of All About That Bass, the great treat of the first half was Ola Gjello’sDays of Beauty, with its flowing melodies and joyful harmonies.
Pausing in Wales to give us a trio Al Gyfer Heddlw’r Bore, the first half ended with the wonderful Carol of the Bells.
Braving the icy blast for an interval over the road in the Southern Belle pub, the audience packed St Andrews Church yet again for a highly varied second half, which started with the hearty old favourite O Tannenbaum.
At their surpassingly comic best in the rather rude Cheap Flights, the simple but endearing quartet There’s Still my Joy led to the wistful folky Underneath the Stars.
I always find ABBA’sHappy New Year a strange, wistful almost ironic song here beautifully rendered.
The Irish ballad Parting Glass was a poignant finale piece, followed of course by their signature Hove for the Holidays.
The soloists, too many to name, all played their parts at the very highest level, even battling the cold of the church and the variable acoustics.
Musical accompaniment was provided from Basil Richmond (piano), Anne Whiteside on piccolo and flute, Paul Whiteside on double bass and drum and David Farrer on guitar add a perfect backing.
Ten out of ten yet again for these two talented choirs adding to Brighton’s rich choral family.
The concert was at St Andrews Church, Hove on December 14 and is happening again this evening, December 15 (all tickets sold out). Watch out for both choirs at the 2019 Brighton Fringe .
Krissie’s Christmas Crackers fundraising show at the Rottingdean Club last night (December 14), raised £355.15 for Rainbow Fund.
KRYSTAL Ball,Jamie Watson, Kara Van Park, Doctor Woof and Fonda Cox joined Krissie Ducann to deliver a first class night of entertainment. It was especially lovely to hear Jamie Watson singing, making me feel quite nostalgic about the ‘good old days’.
Phil Sherrington, joint owner of The Rottingdean Club, said:“Thanks to everyone for coming and supporting the Rainbow Fun, to everyone who donated prizes for the raffle, to my bar staff and to Justin Zilli who organised the sound.”
Chris Gull
Chris Gull, Chair of the Rainbow Fund added: “Many thanks to Krissie for using her annual Christmas show to fundraise for The Rainbow Fund. She is an integral part of our local cabaret scene, who are so generous in their support of our LGBT+ communities here in Brighton and Hove.”
The Rainbow Fund give grants to local LGBT/HIV groups who deliver effective front line services to LGBT+ people in Brighton and Hove.
In the most recent grants round in October, 2018, local groups received grants totalling £146,481 from the Fund.
These groups included: Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents, Rainbow Families, My Genderation, MenTalkHealth, Peer Action, Older and Out, Longhill School LGBTU group, Marlborough CIC QTIPOC project, Sussex Beacon, The Rainbow Chorus, Lunch Positive, MindOut, Clare Project, Switchboard, Allsort Youth Project, The Brighton and Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum.
Brighton & Hove Buses will freeze cash and contactless bus fares in the city and keep price increases as low as possible when new fares go live on Monday, January 15 next year.
Frozen fares will include: city single, short hop, centrefare, network SAVER and city SAVER adult tickets; family tickets; the young persons’ accompanied BusID and BusID fares for children travelling on the weekends, holidays or school day evenings.
There will be a small increase to cash and contactless fares for journeys outside the city. Singles will increase by 10p or less and returns will go up by between 10p to 20p.
Returns from Brighton to Lewes, Newhaven and Seaford will be frozen.
The cost of some longer-term tickets – for 28 days, 90 days or annual – will increase by between 10p and 14p per day. For example, the adult 28-day Network SAVER will rise from £79 to £83, an increase of £1 per week and still considerably cheaper than buying multiple one-day £5 Network SAVERS. The adult 90-day Network SAVER goes up from £210 to £222, an increase of £1 a week.
Some ticket prices have been dropped. Duo tickets, where up to two people can travel, will cost £8 for a city SAVER (down 20p), while the network SAVER goes down by 20p to £8.40. Quattro tickets, where up to four people can travel, fall from £7 to £6. Conventional, one-day tickets become 24-hour tickets, which will help many people save where they tend to buy tickets later in the day.
Brighton & Hove Buses’ Managing Director Martin Harris said he had tried to freeze or reduce as many bus fares as possible but increases on some fares could not be avoided.
Martin Harris
Mr Harris said:“I do understand that any sort of fare increase can be unwelcome but we’ve frozen many fares, reduced some and only marginally increased others, from a genuine desire to balance the need for ongoing investment and match the costs of the business with the pressure on people’s budgets.
“Great news for commuters is that they can now get a 20% discount when buying an annual pass through the East Sussex Credit Union affordable payment plan, previously a 10% discount.
“Our community deals won’t change, including discounts for carers and compass card holders, family offers and our 4 Work Saver, that provides a free travel start for new employees of local businesses.
“We’ve responded to demand and introduced some new mobile tickets, including a 4-day student ticket and a 4-day adult ticket. Also, child fares will be available on the mobile app for the first time.”
Martin said the company spent £7.6 million last year on ultra-low emissions buses at a cost of around £200,000 each. The plan is to invest in even higher specification vehicles to deliver zero emissions in the city centre, but these buses each cost at least another £100,000.
Worsening urban congestion also meant operating four extra buses a year, at a cost of around £1 million, just to keep running the same service.
He continued:“We’re not the only vehicles that have historically generated city centre emissions and, despite progress, and the fact that bus travel improves emissions compared with car travel, we remain committed to doing more to improve the city we live and work in.
“Ignoring emissions and climate change would be irresponsible and we’re facing the issues head on, but it doesn’t come cheap. We’ve estimated we need to spend £172 million on new buses so that our buses are playing their part in an emissions-free city centre by 2030.”
Please see attached table for fares. The fares relate to Brighton & Hove buses only, not Metrobus. Also attached is an infographic showing where every £1 of bus fare goes.
The Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) and the Local Government Association (LGA) call for a major extension of access to PrEP to help end the epidemic of HIV in the UK.
TWO years on since NHS England announced the PrEP Trial, 10,000 people have been recruited onto the trial. However, many people continue to find it difficult to access PrEP with some people having become infected with HIV when this could have been prevented.
ADPH and LGA say they fully support PrEP as part of an effective HIV prevention strategy, with the potential to save lives. Their only concern is the unfunded cost to councils as a result of rolling PrEP out, whether as part of expanding the number of people on the PrEP Trial or in a future national HIV PrEP programme.
They are calling for the forthcoming NHS long-term plan to commit to fully fund expanded access to the HIV PrEP Trial ensuring that both unresolved implementation questions are addressed and that local authority sexual health services are adequately resourced to support this extension.
Prof Jim McManus
Professor Jim McManus, ADPH Vice President, said:“PrEP is now even more affordable on the NHS. With the NHS saving substantial sums from the drug being cheaper as well as from fewer people needing treatment, we see no reason why NHS England should not extend the roll out of the trial to more people.
“While NHS England pays for the drug, local councils have to meet the costs of extra attendances and tests at sexual health services. These additional costs fall at a time when government is cutting public health budgets.
“The savings made by NHS England switching to generic Truvada would help cover the trial-associated service costs of extending recruitment to the PrEP trial and significantly reduce the burden on local authorities to support this important study.
Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said:“The outcome of the trial, which will be the largest single study of its type in the world, will help inform the potential rolling out of the provision of PrEP nationwide. It is crucial that at the end of this trial next year, a clear process for routinely commissioning PrEP on the NHS is agreed.
“The forthcoming NHS long-term plan should commit to extending the trial and government should support the extension through local authority funded sexual health services. Local authorities have invested hundreds of millions in providing sexual health services since taking over responsibility for public health five years ago, and we firmly believe that PrEP could significantly reduce levels of HIV in the community.
“As a matter of urgency, the government must end this short-sighted approach and reverse the planned cuts to public health grants we have seen in recent years.”
Debbie Laycock
Debbie Laycock, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Terrence Higgins Trust, said:“PrEP is almost 100% effective at preventing HIV when taken as prescribed and we welcome the acknowledgement from LGA and ADPH that PrEP is an essential part of HIV prevention.
“We firmly believe PrEP has a key role in ending new HIV transmissions in the UK, but currently access in England is capped and the PrEP trial will be full in a matter of months. After that there’s no clarity whatsoever about what happens and we are still waiting for a timeline for PrEP being made routinely available. That’s why we’re so frustrated by the seemingly endless issues which are stalling PrEP from being made accessible to all who need it in England. This inaction jeopardises the hard-fought progress that’s been made in the fight against HIV.
“We know that individuals who have been refused access to the PrEP trial have gone on to be diagnosed with HIV, which is why we are pleased LGA and ADPH agree with us that extra places on the trial are urgently needed – especially when the trial looks like being entirely full early next year. It’s also why we’re strongly urging local government and NHS England to quickly come together to overcome the hurdles and divisions in opinion which are preventing PrEP from being made more widely available.
“Because the reality is that for every day that NHS England and local government disagree on who’s responsible for funding and implementing PrEP access, more trial sites are filling up and more people are being turned away. We urgently need a commitment to be made for more places on the trial and a firm timetable for making PrEP routinely available in England published. Further delays are unacceptable and both the Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England have a responsibility to show leadership and ensure that a solution is found – and quickly.”
Deborah Gold
Deborah Gold, chief executive of NAT (National AIDS Trust) continued:“We strongly agree with the ADPH and LGA that there is an overwhelming need to address the imminent lack of places on the PrEP trial. People vulnerable to HIV are the victims of a complex system in which the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, Public Health England and local government must all play their part.
“For a programme to be effective in getting PrEP to all those who need it, it must be part of a properly funded sexual health service. Yet at the moment sexual health services have been the casualty of cuts to public health that take no regard of the crucial treatment and prevention services provided by them. We call on all those responsible to work together to urgently solve this impasse, and ensure that no-one else acquires HIV having been turned away from the trial.”
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