Brighton Bear Weekend (BBW) smash last years fundraising total raising a magnificent £11,855 from their events in 2016-2017.
The grand total was announced last night (July 10) during a special VIP party at the Camelford Arms, to recognise the contributions of all the volunteers, businesses who staged events, The Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC and Prowler, sponsors of the Bear-B-Que, who had helped them raise the total during the last 12 months.
The Rainbow Fund received a cheque for £9,050 which they will distribute during their Annual Grants Round in September 2017 to LGBT+ organisations who deliver effective front line services to LGBT+ people in the city.
£1,247.00 was raised by the volunteers from Lunch Positive at the Bear-B-Que in Dorset Gardens on June 17 and a further £1,558.00 was raised for the work of the Brighton & Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum who manned the bar at the same event.
Graham Munday, Chair of BBW, said: “We are delighted and thrilled by the amount that has been raised at our events this year. It was truly unexpected. It is only possible with the generosity of not only the people giving the money but the people giving their time, the volunteers and performers. I know the whole team would also like to thank the venues that support us not only over the weekend but throughout the year.”
Chris Gull, Chair of the Rainbow Fund, added: “The Rainbow Fund is once again impressed and delighted that Brighton Bear Weekend raised so much, and that they have entrusted us with making sure that the money raised is put to the best possible use in supporting projects which benefit our local LGBT+ and HIV organisations.
“We thank them, on behalf of all those people, for the months of planning, and days and nights of hard work, which delivered such a successful weekend and fantastic total.
“We also thank them for understanding the importance of a central focus for local fundraising, with the sole remit of distributing funds in a fair and useful way. That is through the Rainbow Fund…”
In 2016, Brighton Bear Weekend raised £7,752 for the Rainbow Fund from their programme of events.
Brighton Bear Weekend 2018, will run from Thursday, June 14 – Sunday, June 17. Mark your diaries now!
For more information about Brighton Bear Weekend, click here: