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Pride in our communities

MindOut

MindOut is immensely proud of Pride. As a ‘mental health’ event, what could be finer than a celebration of our lives, our difference, our contributions to the world, to Brighton & Hove, to each other. It’s a chance to show off, to get together, to be creative, to learn, to share and to belong.

This may help make clear why MindOut has cared to get involved in debates about how Pride celebrations can be as inclusive as possible, which means including those of us who have less access to disposable income.

By having to charge for entry to the park, the issue of whether each of us can afford to go creates a division between those for whom the price of a ticket is well within their means and those for whom it’s out of the question.

If you have a relatively good income, an affordable home, your food bills and utility bills are taken care of regularly, not so much debt you can’t handle, then buying a ticket for Pride probably doesn’t present any problem at all. Those of us who are comfortable money-wise may well spend far more than the cost of a Pride ticket on all sorts of social, leisure, recreational pursuits daily.

If you are unable to find work or unable to work then you may be living on approximately £70 a week, or £56 if you are aged under 25.

These amounts are to cover food, fuel, transport, clothing etc. It’s too hard to live on that for any length of time, no-one would want to try it.

This year we tried to ensure that some people in Brighton & Hove’s LGBT communities who live on next to nothing had the opportunity to go to the Pride park festival. This is despite the fact that the Pride CIC has to make sure it covers costs and sells enough higher price tickets, no mean feat.

There is no perfect way to make sure everyone who needs an affordable ticket gets one.

With the support of Pride and the LGBT community groups and organisations we hope to get the tickets Pride has released to as many people as we can.

None of this would matter if Pride was any other festival or any other show, and of course not everyone can afford to go to everything they would like to. The reason it matters is because of what Pride symbolises, because it has a history, because of the politics of LGBT community development, because to feel included is good for your mental health and because too many of us are at risk of feeling the opposite, too many of us are socially isolated.

MindOut would like to thank everyone who has helped make this happen, especially the Pride organisers. You have made Pride a more accessible, equal event, you have made sure that some of the disadvantaged people in our communities can participate, you have made sure that some of the people who are particularly socially isolated can chose to join in. That makes us proud of Pride.

 

LETTER TO EDITOR : Cost of a ticket for Pride

Brighton Pride 2013As I waited in the queue to get into Preston Park at Pride I chatted with the lady next to me. She said she had paid £1 for her ticket. I had paid £17.50 for my ticket and asked why she had got hers so cheap. She was not sure. She said she used to volunteer for a voluntary group but that was two years ago.

I really feel very strongly about this. I am unemployed and paid £17.50 to get in. Why should people get in for £1? It quite simply is not fair and is potentially devisive within a community where over the years we have campaigned for equality.

Carol Harwood, Portslade

 

Gscene comment:

“Last year (2012) Pride organisers made available a block of community tickets costing £1 for community groups to attend Pride. This year organisers did the same and asked MindOut, the LGBT Mental Health Organisation, to administer the distribution of the tickets. I attended the community meeting at Legends Hotel when this process was agreed and was somewhat surprised to find out the distribution of tickets had not been controlled more carefully in the past and expressed that view. I was also surprised as to how few voluntary organisations that benefitted from those £1 tickets had taken the trouble to attend the meeting at Legends.

The present Pride organisers are now delivering a tried and tested fundraising model which has for the last two years raised £75,000 to be distributed to deserving LGBT organisations delivering front line services to the LGBT community. It is now very important to look at who should receive these tickets or whether any of these tickets should be available at all.

Every year and this year was no different, Pride has trouble recruiting volunteers to help on the big day. Everyone wants their Pride but when it comes to doing something to help, sadly there are not too many in the queue.

Maybe a solution to this problem is that anyone who gives two hours of their time to volunteer on the big day as a steward or bucket shaker receives a free or £1 ticket to the event.

The days of a free Pride in Brighton & Hove are over. Years of bad management and financial and incompetency saw to that. Now that the fundraising aspect of Pride is guaranteed each year through £1 a head on each ticket sold being allocated for distribution to deserving organisations, maybe the time has come to put the brakes on the ‘something for nothing culture’ that has developed locally over the last few years and concentrate on what can be done to make the amount of money raised for voluntary groups to more than £100,000 each year which is what Manchester Pride has managed to raise annually for the last 10 years.”

You won’t do this by giving away or expecting to receive £1 tickets at the expense of others.”

James Ledward, editor Gscene

Labour MEP candidate calls for a stop to the closure of air pollution station

 

Annaliase Dodds MEP
Anneliese Dodds MEP

A week of action has been taking place across the South East to campaign against the closure of air pollution monitoring stations in Reading, Portsmouth, Oxford, Chatham and Brighton.

Labour’s South East MEP candidate Anneliese Dodds is opposing any closures as air pollution causes an estimated 29,000 deaths in the UK each year and can reduce life expectancy by eight months.

The government has proposed removing the obligation for local authorities to run air quality monitoring stations, following its ‘red tape challenge’ to reduce regulation, but Anneliese is warning that this is a short sighted move that would be bad for health and could also leave the Government facing an EU fine.

Anneliese has already visited Portsmouth, Reading and Oxford. She will be visiting Brighton tomorrow, Saturday October 12 and Chatham on Monday to raise awareness of the issue and to collect signatures for a petition.

She said:

“Local authorities need this data to tackle the effects of pollution and I want to see the government doing more, not less, to help them.

“These monitoring stations have been up and running for years and show if we are making headway or still have work to do. Getting rid of them may save money but it will prove costly in terms of health.

“I am travelling around the South East collecting signatures for a petition so we can demonstrate to Defra that people want their health to come first.”

Independent air quality experts are warning that closing these stations would be a backward step. The European Parliamentary Labour Party is challenging the UK government on whether the proposed closures are lawful, since the government has obligations about air quality under EU law.

The UK was also denied permission by the European Commission last year to delay air quality improvements in 12 areas – including Brighton, East Sussex.

Anneliese will be at Preston Park Pavilion, tomorrow, October 12 at 10.30am

ROOTS : Donmar, London: Review

Roots-Donmar1

Three stars

The intimate Donmar stage is the perfect setting for this kitchen sink drama from Arnold Wesker, the middle part of his trilogy of ground-breaking post-war plays, and the most often performed.

Beatie (Jessica Raine from Call the Midwife) is on a visit home to her farming family deep in the rural Norfolk of the 50’s. She’s been living in London for the past few years, and going out with an intellectual socialist, Ronnie, for three.

When she returns to the bosom of her family, she falls back into the mundane rhythms of their life while regaling them with endless ‘what Ronnie said’ quotes, alienating them from him even before his planned visit in a few days time.

Parsimonious Dad (Ian Gelder) wanders about Hildegard Bechtler‘s dowdy set full of drying smalls, turning the lamps out, forbidding Beatie from baking a cake for her sister because of the cost of the electricity, and moaning resignedly about his aches and pains. Mum (Linda Bassett) goes about her chores with a quiet concentration, flowery overalls covering wrinkled stockings, keeping time by the passing of the bus every hour.

Beatie bounds around them, a ball of energy, full less of herself than of Ronnie and his marvellous way of looking at the world, bemusing her parents who seem to let it wash over them whereas in reality the implied criticism of their world cuts deep.

Director James MacDonald lets this production simmer, with silences as deep as an echoey well. Running at nearly three hours with two mini intervals, Roots is clearly meant to lure us into this rural world where a bath takes a couple of days of planning (“When I’m married I’ll have a bath every day!” says Beatie, dreaming the dream), but instead simply bores.

I found myself curiously unengaged with the characters and looking at my watch (I counted at least a dozen empty seats in the tiny Donmar after the second interval). Usually, spending an evening with the minutiae of other people’s lives as detailed as this draws you in and makes you care about what happens to them, but here, despite the undoubted quality of the acting, I just couldn’t have cared less.

The muted applause seemed to sum the production up: worthy, interesting up to a point, but not an evening to remember.

 

WHAT: Roots by Arnold Wesker

WHERE: Donmar, Seven Dials, London

WHEN: Until 30 November

RUNNING TIME: nearly three hours (phew!)

TICKETS: £7.50 – £35

MORE INFO: http://www.donmarwarehouse.com/whats-on/donmar-warehouse/2013/roots

WOULD I SEE IT AGAIN: No. Just no.

 

THT launches its first ever ‘Supper Club at Home’

THT Supper Club

For the last ten years, Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) the HIV and sexual health charity has hosted its annual Supper Club, a glamorous dine-off at which dozens of London’s top restaurants donate a private table for THT supporters. Last year, around 500 guests took part in more than 40 dinner parties, with tables at Gauthier Soho, Galvin La Chapelle, and The Square.

At this year’s event, on Wednesday, November 6, guests will make a donation of £175 a head, all of which will go to THT. In return, they will be treated to a fabulous dinner, before being chauffeur-driven to a star-studded after-party at One Mayfair for cocktails, entertainment and dancing.

Supper Club at Home expands this concept, by inviting supporters to host a night of delicious food and fabulous company in the comfort of their own home. Parties will ideally take place between Monday, November 4 and Sunday, November 10.

All hosts have to do is hold an event in their home and ask their guests to donate what they would have paid for a meal at their favourite restaurant to THT. The money raised will be used in projects for people living with and affected by HIV.

To help hosts organise their Supper Club at Home, THT will provide a number of resources, including beautiful invitation and place card templates, and exclusive receipe cards by Michelin starred chef Angela Hartnett.

Kiera Ridge, Community Fundraising Manager at THT, said:

“Everyone loves a good party, so taking our annual Supper Club to more people seemed a rather fabulous idea. We’re leaving it to hosts to decide what sort of event their friends will enjoy most; an intimate dinner, an alfresco lunch, or perhaps a rowdy cocktail party. All we ask in return is the cost of a meal out, which we can use to improve the lives of people affected by HIV. Please get in touch and get involved.”

For more information about Supper Club at Home, and to register your interest, CLICK HERE:

For more information about The Supper Club, CLICK HERE:

 

Registration open for Brighton Half Marathon Youth Races

Brighton Half MarathonRegistration is now open for next year’s Brighton Half Marathon Youth Races, which take place on Sunday, February 16, 2014.

Young runners aged 7 – 17 can take part in the 1 Mile Youth Race, which starts and finishes on Madeira Drive on Brighton’s seafront.

The Youth Races are open to young runners of all abilities, including an opportunity for club runners from the area to showcase their talent, who want to experience the crossing of a big finish line and the inspirational race day atmosphere.

A total of 500 places are available and age groups are 7-10, 11-12, 13-14 and 15-17 years, with each age category starting in its own wave.

The first wave starts at 9.15 am, after the start of the Brighton Half Marathon at 9.00 am.

Registration to the Youth Races costs £5. Each runner will have their race electronically (or ‘chip’) timed and will receive a free T-shirt, goody bag and medal at the finish, with prizes awarded to the three fastest girls and boys in each age group.

Entry closes on December 16, 2013 or when sold out.

Brighton Half Marathon is organised by and is the largest fundraising event for the Sussex Beacon, the care centre for men and women with HIV/AIDS related illnesses

To register, CLICK HERE:  Brighton Half Marathon 

 

HIV charities make position clear on ‘Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis’

Proud Study

A group of the UK’s leading HIV charities have released a joint statement outlining their position on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP).

PrEP is a new HIV prevention strategy that is currently being trialled in the UK. It involves people who do not have HIV taking a daily dose of one or two of the drugs that are used to treat HIV. Studies suggest that this can prevent infection if the user is exposed to HIV.

Faced with continuing high rates of HIV transmission amongst gay men in the UK, the charities believe we need to see additional effective prevention options introduced, such as PrEP, so that more gay men are able to reduce their HIV risk.

Currently, Public Health England and the MRC Clinical Trials Unit are running a UK trial of PrEP, called the PROUD study, for gay and bisexual men who are at a high risk of infection.

The group has created the statement in a bid to raise awareness around PrEP and provide gay and bisexual men with clear, accurate information.

It covers why researchers are conducting a trial of PrEP in the UK, how effective it is, and under what circumstances PrEP could be used to reduce new infections.

The full document can be viewed at www.proud.mrc.ac.uk/news.aspx.

The charities who collaborated on the statement are GMFA, the Lesbian and Gay Foundation, NAM, NAT (National AIDS Trust), Terrence Higgins Trust, and Yorkshire MESMAC.

For more details on the PROUD study, CLICK HERE: www.proud.mrc.ac.uk

 

Local talent shines on the mic

WEB.600
Ella Croucher

Seventeen year old Ella Croucher from Brighton has been given the thumbs up by judges at the Open Mic UK 2013 auditions.

Ella, a former student of Dorothy Stringer School, has just started at Sussex Downs College, Lewes, studying music, performing arts and dance. Her Nan saw the advert for the competition in the Argus, and now Ella has made it through to the Open Mic UK 2013 Regional Finals and will be performing in the live showcases of the competition.

Open Mic UK 2013 is the biggest music competition in the UK for singers and solo artists, searching for the UK’s best singers, singer/songwriters, rappers and vocalists of all genres who perform either covers or original material.

Ella it seems  has caught the judge’s eye and is now in the running to compete for a place in the Grand Final within The O2 in London on Saturday, January 18, 2014.

Those who made it through the audition stage now take part in the live Regional Final showcases alongside the best talent in their area. They’ll be performing in front of a live audience and a music industry judging panel to win a place at the Grand Final.

The competition is divided into age categories – Under 16, 16-20 and 21 and over, and all types of singers, vocal performers, groups and acoustic singer/songwriters are invited to enter Open Mic UK.

Ella is the daughter of the well known music Duo, Stone and Street and has performed with them at the Zone Bar in St James Street, Brighton.

For more information, CLICK HERE: www.openmicuk.co.uk

 

 

Curaçao Pride judged a success by organisers

Curacao

The Caribbean island of Curaçao has always been welcoming to LGBT tourists offering great accommodations, events and attitude.

Hundreds of residents and visitors to the Island celebrated the island’s very first Pride Week last month from September 25-29, 2013 raising the island’s commitment to the LGBT community and LGBT tourism “to another level”.

Hundreds of people showed up at The White Affair event at the Floris Suite Hotel, host property of Curaçao’s first Pride Week, transforming the hotel into Pride City for the week. In addition, hotels and restaurants contributed with gourmet food and drinks in support of Pride Week. They included the Hilton Curaçao, Curaçao Marriott Beach Resort, Santa Barbara Beach & Golf Resort, Kyoto Restaurant, Tempo Doeloe Restaurant, Pirate Bay, Sandton Kura Hulanda Hotel and many others.

There were also events at the Rainbow Lounge, Neighbourhood Bar, Williwood, and after parties at The Gallery Lounge in Punda, with almost 700 people in attendance across all the events.

Parties, street fairs and educational seminars rounded off what organisers have called a very successful first Pride Week.

The date of the next Curaçao South Caribbean Pride Week is Wednesday, April 30 to Monday, May 5, 2014. Organisers promise it will be one of the biggest LGBT celebrations in the region.

For more information, CLICK HERE:

Curacao Pride

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