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Legends crowned best business supporter of Pride 2015

Legends bar and hotel awarded medal for Best Business Supporter of Pride 2015 at the Pride Business Award Ceremony hosted by comedienne Zoe Lyons at the Brighton Hilton Metropole.

Pride Business Awards

Legends financial support for this years Pride amounted to £6,542.27 which included a £1,000 personal donation from Tony Chapman, sponsorship for the Cabaret tent on Preston Park and money raised at the Sunday Cabaret Extravangza during the Village Street Party.

Individuals honored with Pride Legend medals included DCI Paul Betts and Chief Inspector Katy Woolford from Sussex Police who both worked in Silver control over Pride helping support a safe Pride weekend for locals and visitors alike. Katy also worked alongside colleagues at the council to support issues around young people during Pride.

Dexter Allen with Dulcie Weaver and Paul Kemp
Dexter Allen with Dulcie Weaver and Paul Kemp

The contribution of the East Sussex Fire Service was also acknowledged with Dexter Allen receiving a Pride Legend medal. Dexter has worked on Brighton Pride for many years and is retiring from the fire service this year.

Ian Taylor with Dulcie Weaver and Paul Kemp
Ian Taylor with Dulcie Weaver and Paul Kemp

A Pride Special Award went to Ian Taylor from the council’s event team who works throughout the year supporting the planning of Pride.

Kate Wildblood with Dulcie Weaver and Paul Kemp
Kate Wildblood with Dulcie Weaver and Paul Kemp

Alf Le Flohic and Kate Wildblood received special medals for curating the Pride25 Exhibition – presenting 25 years of photos from Brighton Pride at the Jubilee Library.

Colin Blanchflower with Dulcie Weaver and Paul Kemp
Colin Blanchflower with Dulcie Weaver and Paul Kemp

The LGBT Workers Forum at Brighton and Hove City Council won the award for best float on the 2015 parade. Council employee Colin Blanchflower accepted the medal on behalf of the forum.

Zoe Lyons with Paul Kemp and Dulcie Weaver
Zoe Lyons with Paul Kemp and Dulcie Weaver

 

Increase of police activity at Dukes Mound

There will be an increase of police activity at Dukes Mound over the next few weeks.

Dukes Mound
Dukes Mound

Police are increasing overt patrols after becoming aware of at least four young males who are frequenting the area and engaging in sexual activity for money.

A spokesperson for Sussex Police, said: “These young people aged from 13 to 17 are putting themselves at risk.:

“Work is going on to support them but they are prone to going missing and frequenting Dukes Mound.”

Average life assurance sum increases for those with HIV

A new survey by Unusual Risks, Mortgage and Insurance Services shows the average amount that HIV Positive men and women are insuring themselves for has substantially increased.

Unusual RisksCurrently HIV Positive people who are taking out Life Assurance in the UK are insuring themselves for an average of £137,192. This latest survey was conducted as a follow-up to a similar survey that was released last year where the average figure was only £114,607.

The substantial increase this year is mainly due to some of the insurers increasing the maximum amounts of Life Insurance they’re now prepared to offer someone living with HIV.

Chris Morgan
Chris Morgan

Chris Morgan, from Unusual Risks, said; “Initially when HIV life Assurance was launched the amounts of cover were limited to below £250,000. It is wonderful news that Insurance Companies are now starting to offer larger policies that can be used to back large mortgages, commercial mortgages and private equity business deals”.

“Although the ongoing development of HIV Life Assurance products has been wonderful for both the insurance industry and HIV Positive people, we would like to take this opportunity of highlighting that Income Protection and Critical Illness Cover policies are still unavailable to people living with HIV.”

Chris lead the campaign back in 2009 that resulted in changes within the insurance industry that meant those with HIV could get life assurance. He was also responsible for the removal of the Gay Question from Life Assurance proposals back in 2005.

Unusual Risks continue to campaign to ensure that those with the virus will also be able to get Income Protection and Critical Illness Cover.

 

Eastbourne Book Festival 2015

An exciting new festival comes to Eastbourne from Saturday 19 – Sunday, September 20 celebrating books and the written word.

Eastbourne Book FestivalEastbourne Book Festival 2015 will cater for every literary need from established authors to budding authors to readers.

The event starts at 7:30pm on Friday evening at The Underground Theatre with best-selling author Sheila Bugler being interviewed about her life, writing career and her books by Festival director, Louise Sewell.

On Saturday and Sunday the Festival is being staged across two venues in the town within easy reach of public transport and car parking:

The Underground Theatre (located under the Central Library) will be open between 1pm and 5:30pm on Saturday and Sunday to showcase local authors who will be displaying, discussing and selling their works.

Local MP, Caroline Ansell will be attending at 3.30pm to show her support and say a few words about the Festival and  number of local publishers will also be there to present some of their authors to the public. Throughout both afternoons, authors will be reading from their books in the ‘Backstage’ area of the Theatre.

For writers, South Street Art Studios in South Street are running a number of creative writing classes over the two days, under the expert guidance of Jacq Molloy, Beth Miller and Andrea Samuelson.

Sunday sees the launch of the Festival’s national writing competition which is open to all and organised by the New Eastbourne Writers group.

For more information about New Eastbourne Writers, click here: 

The festival directors, their partners and sponsors all hope the festival will grow year on year to become a significant event in the Eastbourne events calendar.

For more information about Eastbourne Book Festival, click here:

Tickets for The Underground Theatre (UGT) are £3 in advance or on the door, or £5 for the whole weekend.

Tickets are available from the UGT on Fridays and Saturdays (10am – 4pm), at any UGT event, from Eastbourne Tourist Information Centre, on the door if available, or from the box office.

To book tickets online, click here:

Or telephone: 0845 680 1926.

 

 

Shortlist revealed for Polari First Book Prize 2015

The shortlist for the Polari First Book Prize 2015 was announced last night Tuesday, September 15 during a special edition of the Polari Literary Salon by founder and Chair of Judges, Paul Burston.

Paul Burston

Now in its fifth year, the Prize celebrates the very best debut books that explore the LGBT experience, whether through poetry, prose, fiction or non-fiction. The shortlist – traditionally comprising five titles, but this year stretched to six due to the strength of submissions – showcases the breadth of rich and diverse LGBT literary talent today.

Polari First Book Prize 2015 shortlist:

Straight Expectations by Julie Bindel (Guardian Books)

The Gift of Looking Closely by Al Brookes (Self-published)

Everything Must Go by LaJohn Joseph (ITNA Press)

The Rental Heart by Kirsty Logan (Salt)

Self-portrait with The Happiness by David Tait (Smith/Doorstop books)

The Informant by Susan Wilkins (Pan)

The six shortlisted titles – three novels (The Gift of Looking Closely, Everything Must Go, and The Informant), one short story collection (The Rental Heart), one political polemic (Straight Expectations), and one poetry collection (Self-portrait with The Happiness) – capture a vivid range of perspectives, all with a bold and inspiring LGBT narrative.

With authors selected coming from all over the country, it brings to light some of the most exciting and varied new voices in contemporary writing, making it one of the year’s most representative literary prize lists.

Judges for the 2015 prize include:

♦ Author, journalist and host of Polari literary salon, chair Paul Burston; Rachel Holmes, author and former Head of Literature & Spoken Word at the Southbank; literary critic, Suzi Feay; writer, critic and broadcaster, Bidisha; author and comedian, VG Lee; and writer and editor Alex Hopkins.

Chair of the judges Paul Burston, said: “We’re thrilled to reveal the six wonderful books on this year’s Polari First Book Prize shortlist, drawing a spotlight on the rich and diverse LGBT talent taking the literary world by storm. The judges were overwhelmed by the bold narratives and overall quality of submissions this year – so much so that we felt compelled to extend our shortlist from five to six. We felt that in their work, these six shortlisted writers spoke to the LGBT experience in a way that was affecting, engaging and fresh, and we’re delighted to offer their work a platform to reach even wider audiences.”

The announcement also marks the launch of Polari on Tour a UK-wide series events taking London’s award-winning Polari Literary Salon to major cities from September to December.

The Polari First Book Prize was launched in 2011 and is sponsored by Societe Generale. Partners include WH Smiths Travel and Square Peg Media, publishers of g3 and Out In The City. Shortlisted titles will be displayed at selected WH Smiths travel outlets across the UK and the winner will be revealed on Monday, October 5 to coincide with Polari at London Literature Festival. Last year’s winner was Somali-British writer Diriye Osman for Fairytales for Lost Children.

Polari on Tour – key dates:

October 2: Cambridge – Corpus Playroom
October 6: Bristol – Watershed
October 16: – Brighton – Marlborough Theatre
October 21: – Hertford – Hertford Library
November 4: – Liverpool – Unity Theatre
November 14: – Birmingham – MAC Birmingham
November 19: – Nottingham – Nottingham Writers’ Studio
November 25: – Newcastle – Newcastle City Library
November 2: – Bedford – Bedford Library
December 7 – London – Southbank Centre – end of tour, Christmas event

For more information, click here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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