£585,000 of emergency funding for LGBTQ+ organisations and groups!
_{posted by Rosie Ellingham
on 13th July 2020}

METRO Charity in partnership with NAZ, Equality Network, The Rainbow Project, Umbrella Cymru, Yorkshire MESMAC and Birmingham LGBT, will be cascading the £585,000 fund from Comic Relief, raised from ‘The Big Night In’.

 

The partners will be convening grants panels in each nation - Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England to ensure the maximum reach to grassroots community-led LGBTQ+ organisations across the UK. Organisations and groups with income under £100,000 will be able to apply for over 100 grants ranging from £500 to £15,000. 

Register your interest in applying for a grant: metrocharity.org.uk/LGBTQfund

 

• About the partners:
  • METRO is a leading equality and diversity charity delivering services across London and the South East, with national and international projects. They support anyone experiencing issues around sexuality, gender, equality, diversity and identity across their five domains: Sexual & Reproductive Health, Community, Mental Health & Wellbeing, Youth and HIV. 
  • NAZ is a BAME-led sexual health agency working to address sexual health inequalities in BAME communities. They have 29 years of experience working across London to provide culturally specific interventions to BAME communities disproportionately impacted by poor sexual, reproductive and HIV health compared to their white counterparts. They have national reach through their events and some programmes. NAZ was born out of the necessity to make a response to the health inequalities faced by BAME & BAME LGBTQ+ people across London during the HIV pandemic. 30 years later we are facing similar inequalities under the COVID-19 pandemic. NAZ work across four key areas: Care and Support Services to people impacted and living with HIV, Sexual health prevention and promotions services, Clinical Services: HIV/ Selected STI pop up services and Psychotherapeutic counselling, Research, Influencing and Policy. To find our more visit naz.org.uk.

• The Equality Network is a leading charity working for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) equality and human rights in Scotland.
• The Rainbow Project works to promote the health and wellbeing of LGBT+ people in Northern Ireland through research and campaigning and through the provisions of health and wellbeing services including counselling, sexual health testing, hate crime advocacy in addition to peer and social support. 
• Umbrella Cymru is a gender and sexual diversity support specialist organisation that provides a range of services to people across Wales. Their teams, managed by qualified registered social workers, work with LGBTQ+ people of all ages individually, in groups or with family and partners, to develop and deliver free tailored support to help them achieve their goals. The organisation provides a range of services from information and signposting to emotional and practical support. Umbrella Cymru has recently partnered with a Health Board to jointly provide the Welsh Gender Service (the only GIC in Wales) working alongside all Health Boards in Wales to deliver local care and support to trans and non-binary people including, medical and psychosocial support and interventions. 
• Birmingham LGBT is the city’s leading charity advocating for and supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans communities in Birmingham and beyond. They offer a range of services focused on improving the health & wellbeing of individuals. They also believe passionately that Birmingham should be one of the best places in the UK for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) people to live, work and socialise, and work to enable a thriving, visible and PROUD LGBT community in the city. 
• Comic Relief raises money to support people living incredibly tough lives. Through humour and stories of hope, we’ve shown that people can make a massive difference. We fund hundreds of amazing organisations who are working on the ground to support the most vulnerable people and communities in society including many of those hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis. This includes vulnerable children and young people, people who are homeless or living in extreme poverty, women and families at risk of domestic abuse and those struggling with mental health issues.