For one weekend every year, the city is taken over by a sea of rainbows. From the parade watched by tens of thousands, to the festival in Preston Park through to the street party in St James’ Street, the whole city comes together to mark the LGBT celebration, Brighton Pride.
Brighton Pride 2016 (Photograph: Eddie Mitchell)
Now, community groups are being invited to bid for money raised from the event to ensure that the positive message of Pride has an impact on areas of Brighton and Hove all year round.
Paul Kemp, director of Brighton and Hove Pride, said: “Community fundraising is central to the purpose of Pride in Brighton and Hove. On top of our record-breaking fundraising for the Rainbow Fund we are thrilled to be able to deliver small grants funding through the social impact fund to small grass roots community organisations that can help deliver a positive community impact to the wider community.”
The Pride Social Impact Fund aims to support those groups or organisations which need a little helping hand in making a difference in their community. They 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. This year, up to £12,500 is up for grabs.
The Brighton Pride Parade 2016 (Photograph: Eddie Mitchell)
Funding comes from contributions made by businesses within the St James’s Street Party area.
Mr Kemp said: “We’d like to encourage more local businesses across the city who benefit from the bumper weekend of business Pride brings into the city, to get involved with our fundraising efforts for all our communities.”
Launched in 2016, the inaugural awards saw more than £4,500 distributed to groups across the city.
Among the groups to benefit last year include the Friends of Preston Park, which was awarded £1,000.
The majority of this went towards a new piece of playground equipment, while £250 helped put on an Easter Egg Hunt for local children.
A winner of the Friends of Preston Park Easter egg event funded by Pride Social Impact Fund
Sue Shepherd, chairman of the group, said: “We had around 300 children attend the event, even though the weather was variable. We were able to buy enough Cadbury’s creme eggs for every child to get a prize for completing the quiz, as well as a prize each for the two age categories in a drawing competition.
“The event enabled children and their parents to learn about the flora, fauna, history and architecture of our park while getting exercise and having fun.”
Another group to benefit was Brighton’s local community radio station Radio Reverb, which was awarded £500 towards creating a listen again facility.
Ellie Dobing, who sits on the board of directors, said: “The grant from the Pride Social Impact Fund went a long way to helping Radio Reverb move into a new era.
“The ‘Listen Again’ feature means we can offer our Brighton audience an ‘on demand’ service but also make our content available nationally, sitting alongside the likes of the BBC’s national on demand offerings.”
How to apply
The Social Impact Fund has been set up to provide small grants for communal good. Grants are awarded annually to organisations or groups within the city with particular emphasis on areas directly affected or in the footprint of Brighton and Hove Pride.
Submissions should be a maximum of 400 words mapping out how the money will be spent and why the cause is deserving. Please note the maximum award will be £1,000. There is no lower limit.
There is no restriction on numbers of entries by individual groups. However, the emphasis is on supporting community and grassroots groups, rather than individuals.
Please submit it by midday on November 30 by email to Bhsocialimpactfund@gmail.
com.
Applications will be considered by a panel of local media representatives with successful applicants informed by the end of December.
Any money distributed needs to have had a visible outcome by the start of Pride 2017.
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