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Rainbow Hub all fired up and ready to go!

The new Rainbow Hub in St James Street, Kemptown, is now open six afternoons a week, including Saturdays, and on Tuesday and Thursday it’s open until 8pm.

WITH around 27 volunteers having now been through their initial training, they’re already helping numerous clients who arrive with a wide variety of issues. Their volunteers provide help and guidance to individuals and where necessary refer them on to one or more of an extensive network of partner organisations for further support.

Brighton has literally hundreds of organisations, many of them charities, that exist to help people with a wide variety of needs, but understanding which organisation does what, and for whom, can be daunting.

The Hub is building a huge database of knowledge and experience of all of those organisations, so they can help people articulate their individual needs and then point them towards those providers best placed to help with specialist or longer term support.

“Think of it as your first point of contact for all matters LGBT+” says Alan Flack, the Hub Manager. “A bit like a triage service, we take time to listen to your needs and then suggest the best place to go for ongoing support and help.

Many queries we can deal with ourselves immediately, and sometimes people just want to pop in and pick up a copy of Gscene – and that’s absolutely fine too!”

In fact, both the opportunity and the challenge is the huge variety of things that people pop in with. In the brief time they have been open so far, the Hub has dealt with people wishing to report a hate crime; domestic abuse, sexual health issues (the Hub has its own HIV testing machine where you can buy a self-test kit). Other people have been in to talk about gender identity and help with coming out to parents.

The Hub has also started to host regular slots where some of the partner organisations can come and use the Hub as part of their outreach service. MindOut already have a regular Monday afternoon slot, and Pavilions and THT are also in the process of setting up regular weekly slots,

“We’ve come a very long way since the space was first handed over,” said Alan, “but we also know we have a long way to go before we achieve our vision of becoming THE subject matter experts in all things LGBT+ in our great city.”

The Hub are always looking for new volunteers – if you are interested, contact Joel Boardman, the Hub’s Volunteer Coordinator, on joel@therainbowhubmanager.com, or email Alan on alan@therainbowhubbrighton.com

Miss Jason – Two dates for your diary in February at Rottingdean Club

Two portions of Miss Jason are being served for your delight at the Rottingdean Club in February.

Miss Jason
Miss Jason

MISS Jason makes a welcome return to the private members club on Friday, February 1, for owner Phil Sherrington’s birthday bash. Party starts at 8pm so get there early to make sure you get a place in the main room at the front of the club.

Miss Jason is back on Sunday, February 24 for Miss Jason’s Sunday Funday. Appearance times are yet to be set in stone but they hope to have Miss Jason on stage at 12.45-1.30pm then 2.45-3.30pm and finally 3.45-4.30pm so that everyone who has a reservation for the Sunday lunch which starts from noon and is completely sold out, gets a chance to watch Miss Jason’s set in comfort. You don’t have to be dining to watch the show, but people booked in for Sunday lunch will get priority seating.

Rottingdean is a private members club so make sure you have taken out your membership for 2019 before popping along to these events. You can take out a single (£35) or joint membership (£55). The process for applying is very simple. Call for an application form on 01273 309529 or fill in an application form on the website at www.therottingdeanclub.com/index

As a member you can sign in the same guest up to three times, at which point they will no longer be able to visit as a guest and will be invited to join the club in their own right.

 

Celebration of local victim support services

Support services from across Sussex and victims of crime joined together last week, at the Jubilee Library Brighton, to celebrate the Sussex PCC, Katy Bourne’s A Life More Ordinary campaign.

THE event was part of a week-long photographic exhibition at the library, which showcased six brave women who have come forward and shared their experiences of sexual assault, stalking, hate crime and domestic abuse.

Meeting face-to-face for the first time the women shared their stories with one another and took the opportunity to thank the PCC – funded support services that have helped them and their families to cope and recover.

PCC Katy Bourne said: “I wholeheartedly commend Poppy, Norma, Alice, Vivienne, Natalie and Lorraine’s courage in sharing their stories which have helped us promote our local support services and encourage other victims of crime to begin their journey of recovery.

“They have all met for the first time tonight. One of the women has told me that she felt like a fraud as her story (in her eyes) was not as harrowing and emotional as some of the other women’s here tonight.

“To that, I just wanted to say; all that matters is how YOU have been affected by what has happened to you. Victims of crime should never have to suffer in silence or measure their suffering against the suffering of others. My message is; if you have been a victim of any crime, whether you are male or female, there are support services in Sussex that are here to help you.”

The parents of the campaign’s youngest participant, who was a victim of sexual assault, commented on the importance of people reaching out for help. “The young witness service facilitated the healing between me and my daughter because she had a safe place away from the family to offload her worries. I would say definitely, if you have been affected by crime, take the opportunity to access these services because they are really helpful. They are people who really know how things work and will be able to help you get through things.”

Chief Super Jason Taylor
Chief Super Jason Taylor

District Commander for East Sussex, Chief Super Jason Taylor said: “This event highlighted the stories of some remarkable and truly inspirational women. I was delighted to hear that the many victim services we work so closely with were able to provide effective support when it was most needed. I hope their collective experiences will highlight the range of services available and give confidence to those who may be a victim of crime that they will be supported.”

Katy Bourne added: “With a population of 1.6m in Sussex, it is important to make sure that no victim slips through the cracks especially those who choose not to report to the police or are too scared to.”

To read more on the women’s stories, click here:

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