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StartUp Britain comes to Brighton

Simon Kirby, MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, yesterday welcomed StartUp Britain to Brighton on the latest leg of their tour of the UK.

Simon Kirby MP

The national campaign by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, harnesses the expertise and passion of Britain’s leading businesspeople to celebrate, inspire and accelerate enterprise in the UK.

The tour launched last month by the Prime Minister David Cameron and Business Secretary Sajid Javid MP at Downing Street, has been to 28 cities across the UK over the summer in a Routemaster bus with advisors from Natwest, Sage and StartUp Loans to give advice to people wanting to start-up their own business.

Mr Kirby, said: “Having previously set up and run successful businesses in Brighton and Hove I know how daunting it can be for budding entrepreneurs to take that first step towards setting up a new business. It is great that StartUp Britain, along with Natwest, Sage, and StartUp Loans, are able to offer great advice to all those who have a business idea and are thinking of taking the plunge to start a business.

“Every great business has to start somewhere, and the entrepreneurs who visited the tour bus today may go on to run large successful businesses one day. Around 4.47 million people in the UK are self-employed. Hopefully the StartUp bus tour will encourage more people to set up their own businesses.”

Labour to march at Trans* Pride on Saturday

The Brighton and Hove Labour and Co-operative Group will march at Trans* Pride tomorrow, Saturday July 25.

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Cllr Warren Morgan, Labour Leader of Brighton & Hove City Council, Peter Kyle, Labour MP for Hove and Portslade and Nancy Platts, Chair of Brighton, Hove and District Labour Party issued a joint statement.

They said: “We are proud to live in a City that celebrates diversity and our trans* community. No-one should be held back or discriminated against because of their sexuality or gender identity. Despite the great strides we have made, there is more to do to ensure that equality is reflected across our society.

“For the trans* community in particular, we need to go much further to stop transphobic bullying; we need to strengthen the law on transphobic hate crime and ensure gender identity is respected and supported in schools, workplaces and across society.

“The city council under Labour leadership will continue to take forward the work and recommendations of the Trans Scrutiny Panel, of which the new council leader Warren Morgan was a member. 

“The Labour Party are looking forward to joining the parade on Saturday to show our support and we wish our trans* community a happy Pride event!”

 

Council unveils sun safety campaign for kids by kids

Children from schools across Brighton & Hove have designed posters to urge other children to ‘slap on a hat’, ‘slop on’ sun cream and ‘seek shade’ as part of a campaign to stay safe in the sun.

Sun Posters

The posters are the result of a primary school design competition and aim to appeal to young children with messages such as ‘sip water’ and ‘slip on some protective clothing’.

The posters will be on show in leisure centres, nurseries and Children’s Centres as part of a campaign to protect children from the damaging effects of the sun.

The campaign is called Staying safe in the Sun and complements the Speak Up Against Skin Cancer initiative. Melanoma – a skin cancer linked to sun exposure – is predicted to rise by around a third in the next 15 years, and Brighton and Hove is already in the worst 10% of areas affected so it’s worth taking precautions.

The rate is particularly high among the city’s female population, although rates are above average across the board.

Council staff and Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club’s charitable arm Albion in the Community have visited schools to press home the importance of taking care in the sun.  A team from the council has also visited every local sun bed establishment to make sure they are meeting safety guidelines and a website www.speakupagainstcancer.org has been launched to tell people how best to stay safe in the sun.

Dr Peter Wilkinson, Deputy Director of Public Health in Brighton and Hove, stressed how important it is to stay safe in the sun.

He said: “We want everyone to enjoy the sunny weather safely.  Sunburn is unpleasant and painful and increases the risk of developing skin cancers and of ageing prematurely.  It’s important to remember to look after yourself and others who are at risk from the sun, including infants and children.”

“These bright and fun posters by our local children carry a simple message: slap on a hat, slop on sun cream, slide on sunglasses and seek shade. This is especially important when the sun is at its most powerful in the middle of the day.”

 

‘Bed… and Breakfast’ with Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus is tonight

Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus continue their 10th Anniversary Celebrations with their contribution to this years Pride Arts Festival this year, Bed… and Breakfast.

Brighton Gay Mens Chorus

IS it a holiday romance, or just a dirty weekend? High season or low rent? Check in with Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus for a thoroughly musical probing of the ups and downs of the seaside mini-break.

Whatever the weather, you are promised a warm welcome, a varied menu and some unexpected encounters. Getting away from it all can be an adventure, and whether you end up in a single, a double, or get a king-size upgrade, the Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus hopes you have a pleasant stay… and far too much fun to be bothered with a good night’s sleep!

Paul Charlton
Paul Charlton

Chairman Paul Charlton, said: “After a very successful opening of the Brighton Fringe Festival, with two packed shows, we are looking forward to entertain our audience with our summer show ahead of the Brighton Pride celebrations.

“We have some exciting new additions to our repertoire, to which I’m sworn to secrecy by the Music Team, but with a title like Bed & Breakfast, it’s safe to say that there will be love in the air of Brighton & Hove this summer.”


Event: Bed and Breakfast….. with the Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus

Where: All Saints Church, The Drive, Hove BN3 3QE

When: Friday, July 24 and Saturday, July 25

Time: Doors open 7pm for 7.30pm start

Tickets: £12 per ticket (£10 conc)

To book tickets online from June 1, click here: 

 

On the buses with Pride

Brighton & Hove buses have unveiled their first official branded Pride bus in time for Brighton Pride on August 1.

Brighton Pride Bus

The bus is now in general use all around Brighton operating on a variety of routes across the city.

Buses in the Brighton & Hove fleet can be branded with the name of a person of note with a local connection who passed away at least 12 months ago, so Brighton Pride chose to name the Pride bus after drag legend and charity fundraiser, Phil Starr.

Phil performed on stages across the world for more than 50 years raising thousands of pounds for charity.

His last show was at Legends cabaret bar on Marine Parade where he had been the first performer 14 years earlier, and his final number? Well ‘We’ll Meet Again’ obviously.

Phil Starr was a great supporter of the annual Pride event in Brighton and Hove so Pride felt it appropriate that the first Pride bus should be named in his honour.

Paul KempPaul Kemp, director of Brighton Pride said: “We are thrilled that Brighton and Hove buses have joined other prominent City businesses to support Pride in our City in this our 25th Anniversary year. This is just the start of an ongoing relationship that includes a dedicated bus and shuttle service from the Pride campsite as well as exciting all year round promotional activity with the Pride bus” 

Nick Hill, Head of Commercial Development for Brighton & Hove Buses, added: “We are proud to promote diversity in this vibrant, wonderful city and are delighted to help celebrate 25 years of Pride in such a colourful way.” 

Look out for Phil Starr Pride bus on the roads and hop on board for a fabulous ride …

Dine for MindOut!

Like cooking, eating, socialising with friends, and raising money for a good cause?

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MindOut are offering an opportunity to do all those things with a new fundraising initiative, Dine for MindOUt!

Take part and you could win a meal for two!

In the next few months MindOut are launching a string of food related fundraising events. The idea is simple and everyone can join in.

Invite your friends round for dinner and ask them to make a donation. Follow the themes MindOut suggest or come up with your own, just ask for a £3 minimum donation from all your guests. If you don’t want to cook you can host a picnic or BBQ anytime you like!

Over the next six months MindOut will suggest six food themes, each with their own info packs giving you recipes, tips and telling you about the hidden benefits of the ingredients.

The campaign starts in July with Indian food, recently voted Britain’s favourite food. However, you can chose your own type of food if you like.

When you host the dinner, BBQ or picnic, take photos, videos, write blogs and post them to www.facebook.com/DineForMindOut so they can see how it goes.

MindOut have created a Facebook page, make sure you ‘Like’ and ‘Share’ it with your friends to keep up to date with related upcoming events.

If you use Twitter or Instagram use #DineForMindOut so all your friends can follow the fun.

Each month MindOut will publish a dedicated info pack inspired by the current theme. It will be a jump-start for the novice by providing a popular recipe for each food group: meat, fish, vegetarian and vegan. You don’t have to follow these if you have your own source of culinary inspiration, but there will be tips, interesting facts on the ingredients… and look out for the Celebrity Dish!

At the end of the diner (or brunch, picnic, gathering) you just pass an envelope among your friends to collect a minimum £5 donation each.

You can take the donations to MindOut, LGBTQ Mental Health Service, Community Base, 113 Queens Road, Brighton BN1 3XG. Telephone 01273 234839. Or at the click of a button you can make a single donation at https://campaign.justgiving.com/charity/mindout-lgbt/dineformindout

Each month, MindOut will randomly pick the name of a host, who will win dinner for two at one of the restaurants supporting the scheme.

For more information email: info@mindout.org.uk or telephone 01273 234 839

For more information, click here:

Greens to march at Trans*Pride on Saturday

Green councillors to join this year’s Trans* Pride solidarity march on Saturday, July 25.

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2015 marks the third year of the festival and second year of the Trans* Pride march, which was created to promote equality and celebrate the gender diversity and unique histories to be found across the city’s trans communities.

Cllr Phélim Mac Cafferty
Cllr Phélim Mac Cafferty

Green convener Cllr Phélim Mac Cafferty, who will be marching, said: “Greens once again stand shoulder to shoulder with the trans community. We have been supporters from the very start and we’re proud to march in solidarity with the trans community on this, the 3rd Trans Pride.”

“I’m proud that in recent years our hard work on the council has started to deliver a change in attitudes and we have taken important steps for trans equality- with for example the award-winning work to monitor and tackle transphobic discrimination. Today, we have the country’s very first detailed plan to reduce the health inequalities facing the trans community, a trans toolkit to help teachers deal with prejudice and we have improved hate crime incident reporting. All of these things will help, but our work on trans equality must continue. According to the Trans Community Survey in 2014 64% of people had suffered verbal abuse and 1 in 5 suffered physical violence”.

“This march is an excellent opportunity to remind everyone that transphobia is not at all acceptable. I’d like to congratulate the organisers for bringing people together in a way which reminds us of our responsibilities to stand up for trans equality. Greens will continue to work hand in hand with the trans community for a fairer future.”  

The march will set off at 12 noon, from the Marlborough pub on Princes Street, Brighton and will finish at the Trans* Pride main event in Dorset Gardens.

Other Trans Pride activities, over the weekend include film screenings, a beach picnic, a party and video projection onto Brighton Town Hall.

Caroline Lucas MP
Caroline Lucas MP

Brighton Pavilion MP, Caroline Lucas, said: “It’s fantastic to see the third Trans Pride taking place in Brighton this weekend. I’m deeply honoured to represent a city which is at the forefront of fighting for trans rights & I will continue doing all I can in Parliament, including campaigning for greater gender identity clinic services in the city.” 

For up to date information about Trans*Pride main event, click here:

 

Rainbow director is third Pride Ambassador

Aneesa Chaudhry will join David Raven and Alice Denny at the front of the Pride Parade on August 1, as the third Pride Ambassador for 2015.

Aneesa Chaudhry
Aneesa Chaudhry

Aneesa is the musical director of the Rainbow Chorus, Brighton’s only LGBT choir which has appeared at numerous community events in the last year including IDAHOBIT and Trans* Pride as well as performing at their own choral concerts. She received the most nominations for Ambassador in the June voting round.

Aneesa, a fine singer and performer, has performed at prestigious UK jazz venues along with some of the highest regarded jazz musicians in the country.

She performs regularly at the National Theatre Music pitch and at Jazz festivals including The Isle of White International Jazz Diva’s Festival, Ealing Jazz, Birmingham International Jazz Diva’s Festival and The Rhythm of the Earth World Music Festival.

She works with top musicians from Slovenia and Croatia’s with her band ‘BLISS ART’.

Aneesa said: “I am very proud to have been chosen as a Pride Ambassador and look forward to representing my community at the front of the Pride Parade.”

 

BBWE raise record total for local LGBT/HIV organisations

Brighton Bear Weekender (BBWE) raise record £5453 for the Rainbow Fund from fourteen events for bears and their admirers over the 3rd weekend in June.

Brighton Bear Weekender
Chris Murphy (left) and Terry Shaw (right) from BBWE hand over £5653 to Chris Gull from the Rainbow Fund

It was a record-breaking year for Brighton Bear Weekender (BBWE) 2015 with more events on offer than previous years, bringing more visitors to the city and more fun all round for everyone to enjoy.

This year BBWE exceeded all expectations, raising a fabulous £5653 for their chosen charity, the Rainbow Fund. The total includes two large donations from Steve Lee at Subline who donated £750 to acknowledge the business generated by the BBWE events at Subline over the weekend and Andy Tull, owner of the Market Tavern who made a personal donation of £250.

BBWE is run by a committee of volunteers who work all year round to produce a great weekend in Brighton for bear communities around the world and raise money for local LGBT and HIV organisations.

Terry Shaw aka Mysterry Drag Queen (far right in the photo above) is stepping down from the committee to fully concentrate on his blossoming entertainment career and business Glamtastic Hairdos. The committee fully support his decision and know both ventures will be a huge success.

A spokesperson for BBWE said: “Naturally the biggest and greatest thank you goes to all the wonderful bears, cub, otters and men from across the world who support our group, come to the events and give so generously. If it was not for you guys it would be nothing. Look forward to seeing you all next year for BBWE 2016.”

“BBWE would not happen without the help and support of many people. Firstly I like to thank all the venues and staff who worked the weekend and throughout the year to give us a weekend to remember. To all our volunteers who give us their time for free and without their help the weekend would not run so smoothly as it does or raised as much money.

“Thank you to Barclaycard for giving us free use of one their card machines to use over the weekend. To all the kind and generous businesses and people who donated raffle prizes this year leading to our biggest prize fund ever of over £1000.

“Finally, to all the media companies who support us tirelessly throughout the year especially Gscene Magazine and Radio Reverb.”

The Rainbow Fund is a CIC community company that makes grants to local LGBT/HIV charities and community groups who provide effective front line services to LGBT people in Brighton and Hove.

 

Seafront arches win regeneration award

The Sussex Heritage Trust Award has been given for the conservation work to twenty six Victorian arches on Brighton seafront during 2012 to 2014 during the last Green administation.

Before
Before

The arches had been in a dilapidated state for years with serious structural issues threatening the safety of the road above.

The previous Green administration won £7million of government funding to restore the arches and the substructure for the road.

After
After

In March 2015 a further £9million was won through the Coast to Capital Local Economic Partnership to renovate the additional arches at the bottom of West St, including reconstruction of Shelter Hall.

Cllr Pete West
Cllr Pete West

Cllr. Pete West, the Green’s Environment spokesperson, said: “The renovation of these arches was one of many projects that we initiated and won funding for whilst in administration to restore and improve our seafront and the city. While celebrating our Victorian heritage, the arches also house new artist studios which bring a vibrant atmosphere to the area, while, crucially, holding up the main seafront road for the foreseeable future.  I’m very proud of our success in attracting investment for this and other sections of the seafront which will enable further improvements over the next few years. With the i-360 tower rising up from the beach, it’s exciting to see our vision for seafront renewal steadily unfolding.”

 

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