December 2014 – Page 11 – Scene Magazine – From the heart of LGBTQ+ Life

Bank fines to help fund air ambulance service

Posted on 05/12/2014 by Besi

The Chancellor, George Osborne announced in his Autumn Statement this week that recently collected LIBOR fines would be used in part to provide relief to the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance by investing in new helicopters so that the service can continue their important work.

THE GOVERNMENT is using money from the LIBOR fines, imposed on the banks for misdemeanours in the financial markets, to support those who demonstrate the best of British values.

Welcoming news of the funding, Simon Kirby MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, said: “I was so pleased to hear in the Autumn Statement that there will be both funding and VAT refunds for the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance.

“It is only right that those who behaved so badly should make a donation to those who have given so much to the country. I am certain this money will be put to good use”

“The local Air Ambulance does such amazing work, and are always available at any time of the day, and on any day of the year. This investment in the Air Ambulance will help them maintain their fantastic service, and will allow them to continue to help those who need them the most.

“It is great news for everyone in Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven that they will be served by newly funded helicopters, and a more securely financed Air Ambulance service.”

Also announced were VAT refunds for all search and rescue, and air ambulance organisations across the whole UK. These refunds could be worth up to £25 million in 5 years, and will go a long way to helping the Sussex Air Ambulance maintain a first class service.

Finding a new GP “absolute chaos”

Posted on 05/12/201405/12/2014 by Besi

Residents complain that finding a new GP is “absolute chaos” and a “mad scramble”.

ANGRY patients facing the closure of Eaton Place GP practice in Kemptown described their search for a new GP as “absolute chaos” and a “mad scramble” at a public meeting held last night (Thursday, December 4) hosted by Labour parliamentary candidate for Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven, Nancy Platts.

The meeting, held as part of the campaign to ‘Replace Eaton Place’ was chaired by Frances McCabe of Healthwatch Brighton and Hove and speakers included Nancy Platts Labour parliamentary candidate for Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven, local Labour Party Ward Councillor Warren Morgan who sits on the local Health and Wellbeing Board, Councillor Gill Mitchell and East Brighton Council candidate Maggie Barradell who is also a patient at Eaton Place surgery.

One couple at the meeting described how this was the second time they had to move doctors in four years due a previous GP practice closing, again due to retirement.

A female patient who had contacted each of the 15 alternative GP practices on the list supplied by NHS England, said: “I spent a full working day going through the list of 15. Two involved two buses and a long walk, two said I lived in the wrong postcode, two had poor NHS ratings and one was no longer there.”

Nancy Platts said: “I am horrified by the way people are being treated. The confusion about where responsibility lies for ensuring patients have a local GP is a direct result of the fragmentation of the NHS under this Conservative-led Government. Expecting people from East Brighton to travel half way across town to see their GP or turning them away when they try to register somewhere else is unacceptable. NHS England must get a grip of this situation, there is a clearly a need for a GP surgery in this part of East Brighton and we cannot have over 5,000 people left frantically trying to find a new doctor.”

Cllr Warren Morgan, added: “We cannot afford to lose a GP surgery in East Brighton and we need to ‘Replace Eaton Place’. I have written to NHS England and this issue will be discussed at the Health and Wellbeing Board next Tuesday. I will continue to fight to keep local GP services for people in my Ward and I will be asking the Board to look urgently at new options for a surgery in the area.”

Many patients also expressed concern that they could no longer register with a particular GP and felt that it was time-wasting and sometimes upsetting to have to keep re-explaining their medical condition. One man with mental health issues said that having a one-to-one relationship with a doctor was very important to him and was worried that he might have to see a different GP each time.

Labour Council Candidate and Eaton Place patient Maggie Barradell led the call for people to go with her, Cllr Gill Mitchell and Nancy Platts to the Health and Wellbeing Board next week to make their views known. They are urging people to join them and will be gathering at 3pm outside Hove Town Hall on Tuesday, December 9.

To sign the ‘Replace Eaton Place’ petition, click here:

Or follow the campaign on Twitter with hashtag, #replaceeatonplaceGP

Calling all budding film makers

Posted on 05/12/2014 by Besi

Mike Weatherley, MP for Hove and Portslade, is encouraging budding film makers from both Hove and Portslade to enter his national Film the House competition.

Following the success of Mike’s Rock the House parliamentary competition, Film the House helps to draw attention to the importance of the British film industry which supporting over 100,000 jobs in the UK and contributes more than £4.5 billion to the GDP.

Sponsors supporting the competition include Lionsgate, Fox and Odeon Cinemas and the 2015 competition also sees the expansion of the competition into the U.S. Congress, the Australian Parliament, and the European Parliament.

Categories include drama, thriller, action, comedy, music video and documentary, as well as a separate category for under-18s, which can be any genre.

Closing date for nominations is December 31 and the finals will be held on March 18, 2015 with a special reception and screening of the winning film.

Mike said: “Film the House has gone from strength to strength each year, with more participants from more constituencies involved last year than ever before. If you’re a film maker, make sure you take part in the 2015 competition!”

For more information on the competition, click here:

Thank you Bar Revenge!

Posted on 05/12/201405/12/2014 by Besi

Terrence Higgins Trust Brighton (THT) thank staff and customers at Bar Revenge for their support over World Aids Day weekend.

THE SECOND annual staff auction for World Aids Day raised a brilliant £2,107 for the work of national sexual health charity, Terrence Higgins Trust.

Ross Boseley, Health Promotion Coordinator and Community Engagement & Outreach worker at THT said: “Thanks from everyone at THT for this fantasic amount. The money raised will go towards HIV prevention, HIV testing, support services and challenging HIV stigma.”

Museums in Liverpool and Brighton awarded LGBT funds

Posted on 05/12/201405/12/2014 by Besi

National Museums Liverpool has been awarded a significant grant to fund research into its Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) collections in its art galleries and urban history items at the Museum of Liverpool.

THE £91,863 grant from the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund will be used by National Museums Liverpool to support the Pride and Prejudice project.

Working in partnership with Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove, the two-year project will tackle the challenges faced across the museum sector, by realising the full potential of LGBT collections to ensure that objects and stories within these collections are fully researched, sensitively interpreted and made accessible online and through display to a wide and diverse audience.

Joined by Liverpool-based LGBT arts and social justice organisation Homotopia, National Museums Liverpool will build on current and past LGBT successes that have made a significant impact including recent exhibitions in Liverpool:

• April Ashley: Portrait of a lady at the Museum of Liverpool,

• David Hockney: Early reflections at the Walker Art Gallery and

• The Un-Straight Museum conference,held at the Museum of Liverpool in 2014.

The project will also follow on from the successful exhibition in Brighton and Hove:

• Keith Vaughan: A Volatile Medium at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery.

As part of its research and development, the Pride and Prejudice project will also produce a series of online ‘toolkits’ for other museums and galleries interested in developing their own LGBT work, covering themes including research, terminology and evaluation.

Ann Bukantas, Head of Fine Art at National Museums Liverpool said: “Working with LGBT collections is a relatively unexplored but vital subject for museums and galleries, and we are absolutely delighted to have been awarded this funding. It will make a real difference to how we understand, use and develop our LGBT collections.

“We look forward to working with all our partners to create long-lasting relationships that will help make our collections and venues more relevant and representative, and we hope that the toolkits we are devising will help other museums nationally to develop their own work in this field.”

The Pride and Prejudice project will enable research to take place into the Museum of Liverpool’s urban history collections in areas such as the history of Liverpool’s LGBT communities, venues and key personalities, including performers and activists. Research will also be undertaken into collections at the Walker Art Gallery and Lady Lever Art Gallery, where many of the LGBT stories in the objects and paintings are currently unknown or hidden.

National Museums Liverpool will work collaboratively with Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove, which is based within one of the UK’s most prominent LGBT communities. By proactively sharing and embedding best practice evolving from the project both internally and across the museum and heritage sector, it is hoped that the project will create a fruitful and distinct legacy.

A spokesperson for Royal Pavilion & Museums said: “We are delighted to be given this opportunity to develop our knowledge and understanding of LGBT collections further. This exciting project with the Royal Pavilion & Museums and National Museums Liverpool will build an important online legacy, helping us to share knowledge not only with our communities, but with other museums, enabling them to interpret and collect for wider and more diverse audiences”

The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation was established in 1961 by Ian Fairbairn as a memorial to his wife Esmée. Today it is one of the largest independent grant-making foundations in the UK. The Collections Fund is administered and managed by the Museums Association, with the aim of broadening access to and use of museum collections and focuses on time-limited collections work outside the scope of an organisation’s core resources.

David Fleming, Director of National Museums Liverpool added: “Social justice is at the heart of what we do at National Museums Liverpool, and the Pride and Prejudice project will help LGBT work to become even more firmly embedded within our organisational culture, creating a blueprint for the rest of the museum sector.”

National Museums Liverpool comprises eight venues, including some of the most visited museums in England outside of London. Their collections are among the most important and varied in Europe and contain everything from Impressionist paintings and rare beetles to a lifejacket from the Titanic. They attract more than 2.7 million visitors every year. The venues are the Museum of Liverpool, World Museum, the Walker Art Gallery, Merseyside Maritime Museum, International Slavery Museum, Border Force National Museum, Sudley House and the Lady Lever Art Gallery.

For more information on the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund, click here:

Seven households swap homes in time for Christmas

Posted on 05/12/2014 by Besi

Local families are swapping their council homes to combat the government’s under occupation rule.

ONE FAMILY are presently negotiating a seven-way swap before Christmas taking them from a 4-bed house in rural West Sussex to a 3-bed flat in central Brighton.

More than 100 families have swapped their council homes this year freeing up their much-needed homes. The word is spreading with a number of council lead community ‘swap shops’ planned throughout the city after the success of the first event in 2013.

Potential swappers are invited to St Joseph’s Hall, Milton Road (bottom of Elm Grove) between 12 noon and 4pm on Tuesday, December 9.

Staff from a range of council teams will be on hand to offer advice to help people finding it difficult to identify the right home or person to swap with.

There is no obligation for anyone attending. The event is for all council tenants, whether they just want to find out if Mutual Exchange is the answer for them or if they are ready or to move.

Everyone attending will have the opportunity to enter a free prize draw to win Argos vouchers and tenants can advertise their home at the event even whether they are not able to attend in person.

Councillor Bill Randall, Chair of Housing, said: “Brighton & Hove has 19,000 on the waiting list for a home. Anything that can improve the situation is more than welcome. Because of the government’s under occupation rules many tenants are struggling to pay their rent.

“The council’s Mutual Exchange Scheme and the Tenant Incentive Scheme offers some the chance to downsize, while others living in over- crowded conditions can to move to bigger homes.

“For seven households to swap homes in time for Christmas is wonderful.”

For a mutual exchange, tenants or housing association residents can register with the council on the Brighton & Hove Residents and Tenants Facebook site.

To register, click here: where you will find all sorts of useful groups including people advertising their property. There are many other sites including www.exchangelocata.org.uk. Once a property has been found and both sides want to swap it will need to be agreed by the council

To take advantage of The Transfer Incentive Scheme (TIS), tenants need to be living in a family home with one or more bedrooms that are no longer needed, or an adapted home that is not required. The scheme offers a maximum cash incentive of £2,500, and will be used to pay any existing housing related debts first. The payment can take up to 6 weeks to process after the move has happened. The Homemove Team are on hand to support tenants throughout the process.

Changing Attitude Carol Service

Posted on 05/12/2014 by Besi

The annual Changing Attitude Sussex/Brighton and Hove LGCM Carol Service will take place on Friday, December 19 at 7.30 pm at St George’s Church Kemptown.

Changing Attitude Sussex is an organisation committed to telling the truth about Christian teaching on homosexuality, and works for the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in every province of the Anglican Communion and more widely in all Christian churches.

The preacher will be the Rev Nicholas Frayling, former Dean of Chichester Cathedral.

Mince pies and mulled wine will be served afterwards.

For more information about Changing Attitude Sussex, click here:

PREVIEW: HIV-Positive? New Year, New You!

Posted on 05/12/201406/01/2015 by Besi

Paul Thorn’s eagerly anticipated eBook, HIV Happy will be published, January 5 on Amazon Kindle.

The eBook presents a tried and tested methodology on how to improve your day to day life living with the virus. It expands on many of the ideas that were presented in his award nominated GT magazine column called Recipes for Life. The column had been noticed by many for its very different approach to HIV writing and the eBook, although concise is no different.

Paul said: “I wanted to move away from a purely health orientated focus and that awful veiled HIV prevention writing we have come to know over the years. There is so much more that could be written about and is relevant to those surviving with the virus, rather than ‘be good, don’t be naughty, always wear a condom’. HIV can be an amazing catalyst that enables people to think about and change aspects of their lives for something better and more fulfilling. Half of the challenge is making the choice to change in the first place, and it isn’t necessarily the obvious external stuff. As I like to say, ‘it’s an inside job’. It’s about a mental shift on how we perceive ourselves more than anything else. The book is really just a simple philosophy on living with the virus and on how to make the most of the second chance that treatment gives many of us.”

HIV Happy offers advice on everything from making minor adjustments to your life, to complete self re-invention. It covers a multitude of subjects ranging from home life, self-esteem, relationships, finances, work and career.

Ultimately the book aims to assist people with HIV to improve their quality of life and find a happier way of co-existing with the virus.

HIV Happy is an eBook and will be published on Monday, January 5, by E-M-Press on Amazon Kindle price £3.99.

For more details about the book, click here:

To pre order at special discounted price of £1.99 before January 5, click here:

Med diet linked to improved CV function in erectile dysfunction patients

Posted on 04/12/2014 by Besi

The Mediterranean diet is linked to improved cardiovascular performance in patients with erectile dysfunction.

PATIENTS with erectile dysfunction who had poor adherence to the Mediterranean diet had more vascular and cardiac damage according to research presented at EuroEcho-Imaging 2014 by Dr Athanasios Angelis from Greece.

EuroEcho-Imaging is the annual meeting of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), a branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), and is held from December 3-6 in Vienna, Austria.

Dr Angelis said: “Erectile dysfunction is not a symptom of ageing, it is a bad sign from the body that something is wrong with the vasculature. In 80% of cases erectile dysfunction is caused by vascular problems and is a warning that patients are at increased risk of a heart attack or stroke.”

He added: “The Mediterranean diet is associated with lower cardiovascular events and could be a way to help erectile dysfunction patients lower their risk. We wanted to investigate whether patients with erectile dysfunction who follow this diet have less vascular and cardiac damage.”

The study included 75 men with erectile dysfunction, aged 56 years on average, who attended the Department of Cardiology at Hippokration Hospital in Athens, Greece.

Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was assessed with the Med-Diet Score1 which ranks patients as high (30-55), intermediate (21-29) or low (0-20) according to consumption of cereals, fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy products, wine and olive oil.

The researchers found that a lower Med-Diet Score correlated with significantly worse vascular and heart function. These patients had greater IMT and aortic stiffness as well as higher left ventricular mass and more profound diastolic dysfunction.

Dr Angelis said: “Patients with erectile dysfunction who had unhealthy diets had more vascular and cardiac damage than those who followed the Mediterranean diet. Previous studies have shown that patients with erectile dysfunction have vascular damage but we found that the heart is also damaged. This may help to further explain why these patients are more prone to cardiovascular events. The formation of atheroma, the stiffening of the arteries, and the poor functioning of the heart can eventually lead to a cardiac event.”

He added: “Our findings suggest that adopting the Mediterranean diet can improve the cardiovascular risk profile of patients with erectile dysfunction and may reduce their chances of having a heart attack or stroke. This needs to be tested in a larger study.”

The Mediterranean diet is characterised by daily consumption of fruit, vegetables, unrefined cereals and pasta, olive oil and nuts. Dairy products are eaten in modest amounts, in the form of yogurt and cheese. Consumption of meat is low, with red meat once a week and poultry once a week considered a healthy level. A modest amount of wine can be consumed, and refined sugar should be avoided in favour of natural desserts like fruit.

Dr Angelis said: “Really simple changes in our diet may help a lot, for example using olive oil which contains monounsaturated fat. If someone doesn’t have the money to buy some of the foods they can substitute them with others, for example nuts are a good source of monounsaturated fat. Sometimes it’s difficult to adopt something if you consider that it’s part of a prescription, but the Mediterranean diet is not a prescription, it’s a lifestyle. It’s about having an awareness of what foods are healthy or unhealthy.”

He concluded: “Patients who have erectile dysfunction and don’t adhere to the Mediterranean diet have vascular and cardiac damage and are at increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Our findings suggest that adopting a healthy diet can reduce that risk. We also advise patients to stop smoking, exercise and ensure that they have healthy levels of blood pressure and lipids.”

PREVIEW: Holly At Christmas 2014

Posted on 04/12/201406/01/2015 by Besi

Deck the Halls….with Buddy Holly and the Cricketers!

BUDDY HOLLY and The Cricketers rocks its way into the Congress Theatre on Sunday, December 21.

Britain’s most popular Buddy Holly tribute act will bring to life the American singer’s all-time favourites such as That’ll Be The Day, Peggy Sue, Heartbeat, It Doesn’t Matter Anymore, Raining In My Heart, Oh Boy! and much, much more.

Aside from Holly’s hits, the show will also features other contemporary classics and some Christmas crackers all wrapped up in a fast, furious feast of entertainment to make the perfect gift for all the family.

The act has rock ’n’ rolled audiences across the globe and is guaranteed to have everyone singing along to the music and dancing in the aisles

Buddy Holly and The Cricketers stars some of the finest actor-musicians in the industry today, with West End credits including Buddy, Lennon, Forbidden Planet and Jailhouse Rock.

Whatever the season, whatever the excuse to party, make your Heartbeat a little faster with the show that has thousands of fans the world over saying: “I can’t believe it’s not Buddy!”

Event: Holly at Christmas

Where: Congress Theatre, Carlisle Rd, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN21

When: Sunday, December 21

Time: 7.30pm

Cost: Tickets cost £19.50, concessions and groups of 4+ £18 can be purchased from Box Office on 01323 412000

To book online, click here:

Call us now

Month: December 2014

Bank fines to help fund air ambulance service

The Chancellor, George Osborne announced in his Autumn Statement this week that recently collected LIBOR fines would be used in part to provide relief to the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance by investing in new helicopters so that the service can continue their important work.

Finding a new GP “absolute chaos”

Residents complain that finding a new GP is “absolute chaos” and a “mad scramble”.

Calling all budding film makers

Mike Weatherley, MP for Hove and Portslade, is encouraging budding film makers from both Hove and Portslade to enter his national Film the House competition.

Thank you Bar Revenge!

Terrence Higgins Trust Brighton (THT) thank staff and customers at Bar Revenge for their support over World Aids Day weekend.

Museums in Liverpool and Brighton awarded LGBT funds

National Museums Liverpool has been awarded a significant grant to fund research into its Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) collections in its art galleries and urban history items at the Museum of Liverpool.

Seven households swap homes in time for Christmas

Local families are swapping their council homes to combat the government’s under occupation rule.

Changing Attitude Carol Service

The annual Changing Attitude Sussex/Brighton and Hove LGCM Carol Service will take place on Friday, December 19 at 7.30 pm at St George’s Church Kemptown.

PREVIEW: HIV-Positive? New Year, New You!

Paul Thorn’s eagerly anticipated eBook, HIV Happy will be published, January 5 on Amazon Kindle.

Med diet linked to improved CV function in erectile dysfunction patients

The Mediterranean diet is linked to improved cardiovascular performance in patients with erectile dysfunction.

PREVIEW: Holly At Christmas 2014

Deck the Halls….with Buddy Holly and the Cricketers!

Latest News

Call us now

The Chancellor, George Osborne announced in his Autumn Statement this week that recently collected LIBOR fines would be used in part to provide relief to the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance by investing in new helicopters so that the service can continue their important work.

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Residents complain that finding a new GP is “absolute chaos” and a “mad scramble”.

Share this:

Mike Weatherley, MP for Hove and Portslade, is encouraging budding film makers from both Hove and Portslade to enter his national Film the House competition.

Share this:

Terrence Higgins Trust Brighton (THT) thank staff and customers at Bar Revenge for their support over World Aids Day weekend.

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National Museums Liverpool has been awarded a significant grant to fund research into its Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) collections in its art galleries and urban history items at the Museum of Liverpool.

Share this:

Local families are swapping their council homes to combat the government’s under occupation rule.

Share this:

The annual Changing Attitude Sussex/Brighton and Hove LGCM Carol Service will take place on Friday, December 19 at 7.30 pm at St George’s Church Kemptown.

Share this:

Paul Thorn’s eagerly anticipated eBook, HIV Happy will be published, January 5 on Amazon Kindle.

Share this:

The Mediterranean diet is linked to improved cardiovascular performance in patients with erectile dysfunction.

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Deck the Halls….with Buddy Holly and the Cricketers!

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