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Boys Of Bridgend StandUp To Homophobia

The Boys of Bridgend are back, baring all and bigger than ever!

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Boys of Bridgend burst onto the scene in 2014 with their debut calendar raising funds for the Everyman Appeal to help fight the battle against testicular and prostate cancer. After selling in over 35 countries around the world, the boys are now back in the studio working on their brand new calendar for 2016 and this years fundraising will go to support the work of the Ben Cohen Standup Foundation which was created by former international rugby star, Ben Cohen to raise awareness of the long-term, damaging effects of bullying and homophobia and to raise funds to support those doing real-world work to stop it from happening.

“We’re really excited about working with this charity,” said Boys of Bridgend creator and photographer, Russ Hughes. “We wanted to make the new calendar as interactive as possible and really get to know the people who have been supporting us and to find out their views and thoughts, so when we asked people on Twitter and Facebook for ideas about who they wanted to see us support this year there was one name that came up over and over again, and that’s the Ben Cohen Standup Foundation to tackle bullying and homophobia. It’s a cause that really resonates with both our supporters and members of the team and the work they are doing, especially within the LGBT community is amazing. Support for us last year was overwhelming from all corners but it was the LGBT community who really got behind us and made us grow, so it’s fantastic that we can come full circle with this years calendar and give our support back to them by raising money for this cause.”

New recruit, Dan, who is joining the Boys of Bridgend for the first time this year, was full of praise for the cause.

He said: “We didn’t have anything in place like this when I was younger. I was teased for being ‘different’ and became isolated because I was scared of not being accepted. It was easier to keep quiet, but it didn’t make me happier. Youngsters are too often told to fit the norm and not to stand out or be different, so it’s great that organisations like the Standup Foundation are working so hard to tell youngsters that it’s ok to be different and that they don’t have to hide or feel scared or ashamed, and hopefully it will educate the tormentors into realising that we’re all the same, despite our differences. We should all strive for equality. Knowing that this years Boys of Bridgend calendar will have a hand in that meant that signing up to take part was a no-brainer for me.”

So what exactly have the Boys of Bridgend got planned for us in their second annual calendar?

Russ said: “When we started we didn’t think it would take off in the way it did. We thought it would be a little local calendar that would sell a couple of copies and help a worthy cause, but it went mad, so this year we are determined to make it even bigger.

“We’ve set up Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts so that we can really get in amongst the supporters to chat with them and give them some exclusive content, too. We’ve got a mix of new and returning guys this year but we’ve upped our game and now have 15 men featuring this year, so the pages will be fit to bursting, and we’ve also been filming the shoots to bring a video element to people as well.

“It’s one thing that people asked for over and over last year, so we’re going to make sure they aren’t disappointed. We’ve also just signed a deal to bring a small range of clothing and accessories out as well. We really are aiming big and hoping to raise huge numbers for the Standup Foundation”

For now, the identity of the 15 men participating in this years calendar are being kept firmly under wraps until the big reveal. The boys have also set up their first ever crowdfunding project and would love for people to get involved and back the project which will help cover the printing costs of the calendar.

To support the Crowdfunder campaign, click here:

For more about the Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, click here:

 

 

New report finds HIV prevention is underfunded and deprioritised

A report by the National AIDS Trust (NAT) has found that not enough money is being spent on HIV prevention to have any impact of the rate of new HIV infections.

National Aids Trust
National Aids Trust

NAT estimates in 2014/15 that £15 million was spent nationally on HIV prevention compared with £55 million allocated in 2001/02. In this time the number of people living with HIV has trebled whilst the amount spent on prevention has decreased to less than a third of the original budget.

This estimate is based on information provided to NAT from local authorities in England with a high prevalence of HIV.

£10 million was spent in 2014/15 on HIV prevention in these areas whichs works out at only 70p per person.

The report found that in local authorities with high prevalence of HIV only 0.1% of local authority public health allocation is spent on HIV prevention.

In 2013 the NHS spent 55 times more on HIV treatment and care in these areas than local authorities spent on HIV prevention.

The lifetime costs of HIV treatment and care for someone with HIV is £361,000.

Deborah Gold
Deborah Gold

Deborah Gold, chief executive of the NAT, said: “Our research found, shockingly, in the 58 areas of highest prevalence of HIV in England, seven local authorities weren’t spending anything on primary HIV prevention or on additional testing services[i]. Worryingly we also found no correlation between level of HIV prevalence in an area and how much was being spent on prevention. There are massive inconstancies between regions and areas, creating a postcode lottery of HIV provision.”

“Testing for HIV is an important prevention intervention as we know that up to 80% of people get HIV from someone who doesn’t know they have it. Worryingly 35 out of 58 local authorities were not investing anything in HIV testing outside sexual health clinics in 2014-15. This is despite NICE guidelines clearly stating they should be offering tests in GPs surgeries, hospitals and community settings in order to have any hope of reducing the number of people with undiagnosed HIV, and further transmissions, in their areas.”

NAT  is also concerned that more problems are on the horizon when the ring-fencing for the public health budget is removed. Currently, local authorities are given money to provide basic services such as sexual health clinics. In April 2016 they will be able to spend this money on anything.

Gold continued: ”In the current climate of cuts and pressure on budgets we are extremely worried this money will be used to shore up other areas of council spend. This would be a disaster for public health in this country.”

The National AIDS Trust is now calling on local and national government to address this funding gap, maintain the public health ring-fencing and prioritise HIV prevention and testing services.

To read the report in full, click here:

Brighton Pride publishes Interim Annual Review 2014

Brighton Pride is a not for profit Community Interest Company (CIC), who give profits generated by the annual Brighton Pride event and Village Street Party, to benefit the LGBTQI community in Brighton & Hove.

Brighton Pride Parade
Brighton Pride Parade

Brighton Pride operates with transparency and openness at the heart of everything it does, giving residents the chance to have their say through regular community group engagement meetings.

Brighton Pride (CIC) has now published its 2014 Interim Review Document, which highlights the costs involved in producing one of the UK’s leading LGBTQI Pride festivals.

The Pride celebrations in Preston Park and Pride Village Party raised over £110,000 for the Rainbow Fund in the last two years.

This unique fundraising partnership enables the Rainbow Fund to distribute grants to local LGBT/HIV organisations who deliver effective front line services to LGBT people in Brighton and Hove, through their grants programme.

To view Pride’s Interim Review Document 2014, click here.

Labour launches biggest ever women’s campaign: Woman to Woman

Harriet Harman MP, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Gloria De Piero MP, Shadow Minister for women and equalities and Lucy Powell MP, Vice Chair of the Election campaign have launched Labour’s biggest ever women’s campaign to reach out to women across the country ahead of May’s General Election.

Labour Women to Women

STATISTICS published last month showed that 9.1 million women in the UK did not vote in 2010.

This is the first time the Labour Party has had such a dedicated women’s campaign tour which is already scheduled to visit over 70 constituencies before the short campaign with a launch in every region, in Scotland and Wales.

Women from across Labour’s team – Women from Labour’s Shadow Cabinet, Parliamentary Labour Party, local government and the Trade Unions will be touring the country to discuss with womenwhat they want from Government and highlighting Labour’s commitments to women including helping them balance work with caring commitments, promoting flexible working, tackling domestic violence and increasing pay transparency.

They will be talking to women voters at school gates, in workplaces, shopping centres, universities, in town centres and on the doorstep.

Representation

A Labour majority would produce a PLP which is 43 per cent women and their target is to get to 50/50. Over half of Labour’s 2015 target seats (53 per cent) have women PPCs and 65 per cent of Labour’s retiring seats have women PPCs.

New figures released by the Labour Party show that only 25 per cent of Conservative candidates in their target seats are women. For the Lib Dems the figure for women in their target seats is 31 per cent.

Labour believes a balanced team of men and women is not just good in principle but it brings a balanced political agenda which works better which is why Labour is committed to working towards a 50:50 men women PLP.

Woman to Woman campaign

Labour intend to show that it is the only Party which will deliver for women in terms of its people, policies and politics by running a campaign which:

Has a strong offer for women in its manifesto.
• Puts women’s concerns at the heart of the campaign in terms of spokespeople, news stories and events including a tour across the regions and nations.
• Reminds women voters about Labour’s strong record on issues like childcare, family care, equal pay and tackling domestic violence.
• Highlights the Tory and Lib Dem actions which have made life harder for women such as tax changes, a crisis in A&E and the continued pay gap                                                                                     • Harnesses the energy, strength and breadth of Labour’s women, including the 1000 activists who attended this year’s annual Women’s Conference and the hundreds of women across the country who participated in Gloria’s highly successful “What Women Want” tour and Harriet Harman’s Older Women’s Commission.                                                                                                                          • Draws on the talent of Labour women members, trade unionists, MPs, frontbenchers, Shadow Cabinet members, Peers, Councillors, MSPs, AMs and MEPs.                                                                  • And works with women’s organisations and the women’s movement in this country.

Harriet Harman, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party said: “We believe that this election will be a watershed for women in this country. Women had been making progress in their lives with the backing of the last Labour Government. But now, with this Tory-led government that progress is stalling and the clock is being turned back on equality.

“With ‘Woman to Woman’ we will be discussing with women what they want from government. The campaign will bring politics to the school gate and the shopping centre as well as colleges, offices and factories.

“There’s been a lot of talk about UKIP or the SNP holding the balance of power. The reality is that the 9.1 million women who did not vote in the last General Election will hold the balance of power and decide who walks into No 10.”

Ms Harman brought the Women to Women campaign’s Pink Bus to the Open Art Cafe in Rottingdean last Thursday (19) to launch the campaign in Brighton and Hove.

She said: “The Open Art Cafe was an ideal place for Nancy Platts and I to meet women to discuss their concerns. We chatted to women who did vote and those who had never voted. What came over very clearly is the importance of having Nancy in Parliament – someone who left school at 18 and who is the opposite of a “professional politician”

Nancy Platts, Labour parliamentary candidate from Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, added: “Harriet Harman’s ‘Woman to Woman’ tour has been a great opportunity to get together with lots of women in Rottingdean and learn more about their concerns and their hopes for the future. We spoke with a range of women from different background, to young mums about childcare and the NHS and businesswomen about what Labour can do for small businesses.  If elected as the MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, it would be an honour to be the first women to represent this constituency and I will ensure that women’s voices are heard in Parliament.” 
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