Community groups, charities and sports clubs are among dozens of organisations to benefit from more than £45,000 of grants gifted under the banner of the Brighton Pride Social Impact Fund (SIF).
NOW in its fourth year, residents in all corners of Brighton and Hove are set to put a little bit of pride back into their city thanks to the cash raised by the UK’s most popular LGBT+ Pride celebrations.
In what has been a record-breaking year, the independent panel were overwhelmed with the number of bids received which ranged from projects to support the vulnerable to residents wanting to brighten up their streets.
After much consideration forty bids were deemed successful – with funding awarded to improve parks and open spaces, support community festivals and get togethers, pay for days out for low-income families and provide equipment for sports teams.
Tim Ridgway, chairman of the Social Impact Fund, said: “This has once again been a record-breaking year for the Social Impact Fund with more people than ever benefiting from money raised at what has become an incredibly successful community event.
“With the fund oversubscribed, making decisions on individual bids was not an easy process. But those groups who have been awarded money will ensure that the legacy of Pride is far-reaching, extending to all corners of the city.
“The panel also wants to thank the organisers of Pride for topping up the funds so that a record amount of funding was available.
“This investment back into our community will make a huge difference to thousands of individuals across Brighton and Hove ensuring that the positive impact of Pride extends beyond one weekend a year.”
Launched in 2016, the Pride Social Impact Fund has now distributed more than £80,000 to groups across the city.
Projects put forward do not have to be LGBT related; they don’t even have to directly-linked to Pride (although applicants directly impacted will be favoured).
However big or small, the only criteria is that it will brighten up people’s lives by the time Pride comes round again next year.
Funding comes from contributions made by businesses within the Pride Village Party in the St James’s Street area, as well as ticket sales from Pride and the LoveBN1 festival.
The panel was made up of representatives from media organisations across the city including The Argus, BBC Sussex, Latest TV, Brighton and Hove Independent, Sussex Life, Brighton and Hove News, Capital Brighton and GScene magazine.
For the first year ever, the panel considered bids of more than £1,000 but only granted funds if they overwhelmingly met the panel’s criteria.
Among the largest grants to be awarded this year include £5,000 for three bids from the Friends of Preston Park. This will pay for a picnic table, new litter bins and a popular Easter egg hunt for families.
A bid of £1,600 was also granted to Light Up St James’s Street, with the aim of improving and installing new illuminations in the area; while £3,000 gifted to the St James’s Street Community Action Group will pay for new planters in the area.
Among others to benefit from the fund include Hangleton Food Bank (£500 for top up vouchers), Tarner Community Project (£1,000 to run summer holiday events for young people and the Why Not Club (£520 to fund a weekly breakfast club for the street community in Brighthelm Park).
Community events were also backed with £500 awarded towards reviving the Patcham Duck Fayre festival, £1,000 allocated to Bevfest in Bevendean and £500 gifted to CASE to fund a science festival for families on low income in Hollingdean.
Among the charities to benefit include Dolphin House, who were awarded £400 towards redecorating its therapy room; Stay Up Late, who have been given £1,000 to run a gig buddies scheme; and Carousel, who will receive £888 to buy an iPad and iPencil to allow learning disabled adults and children to engage in the arts.
Sports clubs will also benefit as £1,000 was awarded to buy kit for Crew Club United, a youth football club in east Brighton; £400 granted to Preston Bowls Club to boost participation among younger members; and Preston Park Youth Cycle Club receiving £1,000 towards the construction of a concrete ramp and tarmac path at Preston Park velodrome.
Paul Kemp, managing director of Pride CIC, said: “I’m thrilled that 2018 has been another record-breaking fundraising year for Pride benefiting more community across our city than ever before.
“It’s great to see community and residents groups in St James’s Street, Kemp Town and Preston Park where Pride has had significant impact over Pride weekend benefiting from funding for positive community projects.
“It’s also really heart-warming to see SIF fund support homeless charities and food banks that have become an essential resource to individuals and families across our city.”
In 2018 Brighton & Hove Pride raised a total of £250,000 for local charities and good causes. This included £180,000 for the Rainbow Fund for distribution to LGBT+/HIV organisations through their annual grants mechanism. £45,000 was made available to the Pride Social Impact Fund for grants to local projects. £10,000 was allocated to the Pride Solidarity Fund and £15,000 to the Pride cultural development fund.
2018 Social Impact Fund AWARDS – in full
Dolphin House
£400 towards the redecorating, supply of soft furnishings and art materials to therapy room
Brighton and Hove Housing Coalition
£1,000 towards core funding for a community campaign group to lobby on improvements to all aspects of housing across the city
Preston Bowls Club
£400 to support wider promotion of four open days to encourage younger audience to take up bowls
Stay Up Late
£1,000 to support and expand the Wild Rainbows gig buddies scheme
Patcham Duck Fayre
£500 towards the running the community event
Norfolk Square Group
£1,000 towards providing community planters and supporting a gardening group for a public open space
Friends of Preston Park
● Bid one – £2000 for a new wooden picnic table and bench set
● Bid two – £2,000 for five new bins for the park
● Bid three – £1,000 to host a Easter Egg hunt for families
Green Centre
£650 towards the conversion of the upper deck of an education bus to host exhibitions and workshops on One Planet initiatives
Young People’s Centre
£1,000 towards a specific project – TBC
Bevendean Chomp
£1,000 towards community lunch club which supports up to 50 people twice a week. This includes a summer trip to Drusillas for families on low incomes.
Light Up St James’s Street
£1,600 to buy and install new lights for trees and lampposts in St James’s Street
Moulsecoomb and Bevendean Community Volunteers
£780 for community cooking equipment and a community celebration to coincide with the installation of the new playground in Bevendean in February.
Bevfest
£1,000 to pay for stage hire and essential costs of a community festival
Bees in the Woods Forest School
£960 to pay for five older people and their carers to attend forest school sessions in Easthill Park in Portslade over the next 12 months.
Crew Club United
£1,000 towards buying kit for a youth football team based in Whitehawk. Some funds subsidised the cost of allowing the side play and attend a three-day youth tournament at Butlins.
Mixed Blessings Theatre Group
£600 to support an all-inclusive theatre group to tour Son of an African, a new production of work, around Sussex
Sing for Better Health
£1,000 towards running the weekly singing group for older people at Elizabeth Court in Hove
The Other Screen
£1,000 towards running open, accessible film screenings and events which explore, discuss and challenge the representation of disabled people
Trust for Developing Communities
£200 towards buying equipment and resources to support the youth work of the 67 Centre in Moulsecoomb
Friends of Farm Green
£900 towards the construction and installation of new thermoplastic activity markings for a new playground in Farm Green, Lower Bevendean
Moulsecoomb Forest Garden
£1,000 to buy pond dipping kit and other equipment to allow young people to get closer to wildlife
Carousel
£888 to buy an iPad and iPencil to allow learning disabled adults and children to engage in the arts and develop talents has been successful.
Quiet Down There CIC
£865 towards offering 2 local schools (60 children) a residency in the market (£540) and holding 10 community lunches for 100 people (£325)
St James’s Street Community Action Group
● Bid one – £1,000 towards providing materials for new flower beds at the corner of St James Street and Rock Gardens by the side of St Mary’s Church
● Bid two – £1,000 towards restoring a section of garden beds in Dorset Gardens
● Bid three – £1,000 to provide materials and flowers for seven planters in St James’s Street area and add one or two more street planters to the district
Kingscliffe Society
£10,794 for new outdoor gym in Dorset Gardens (provisional providing relevant consents are met)
Community, Advice, Support and Education (CASE)
£500 to fund a science festival for families on low income in Hollingdean
Friends of Regency Square
£200 towards creating a permanent community heritage exhibition of old photos, prints, postcards and memories of Regency Brighton to coincide with 200 years of Regency Square.
Hangleton Food Bank
£500 to provide clients a one-off £10 supermarket voucher to ‘top-up’ the essential items which are not donated
Tarner Community Project
£1,000 to run summer holiday events for young people attending youth club events
Why Not Club
£520 to fund a weekly breakfast club in Brighthelm Park for the street community
Audioactive
£480 towards providing kit for Room to Rant, which provides music workshops for young men in a YMCA Supported Housing setting in Brighton and Hove (tbc)
Small Performance Adventure with Creative Cascade Recovery
£800 to go towards the travel costs and venue hire to support up to 100 people in addiction recovery take part in drama workshops.
4Streets
£250 to purchase large outdoor screen to support community cinema events. This will be held by Pride as a community resource which can be booked out by community groups across the city.
Sussex Cycle Racing League
£500 towards a new storage shed at Preston Park velodrome
Preston Park Youth Cycle Club
£1,000 towards the construction of a concrete ramp and tarmac path at Preston Park velodrome to support a range of cycling activities
Little Green Pig
£1,000 to support filming of a production of Voices, a story about young people’s experiences which will be form part of Brighton Festival 2019