Gscene Magazine Gscene - January 2013 | Page 11

GSCENE 11 ALLSORTS HOST LGBT CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE & FAMILIES DAY IN BRIGHTON M Young People’s Voice, the LGBT youth campaigning and engagement project at Allsorts Youth Project, will be hosting an LGBT Children Young People and Families Day on February 5 at the Hotel Du Vin in Brighton. The event, which will coincide with LGBT History Month, aims to celebrate LGBT youth identity and community, with the theme of togetherness. A Tea Party in the ballroom of Hotel Du Vin for community voluntary sector, statutory practitioners and commissioners will showcase the project, then there will be a prom for young people and a Champions Dinner for business people, head teachers, councillors and others to promote the project and encourage people to commit to making the changes they can in their environments to improve the experience of LGBT young people. Jess Wood MBE, Allsorts Project Director, explained: “LGBT children and young people are often portrayed in the media as the victims of other people's negativity whether that’s bullying, exclusion or harm. The LGBT young people we know at Allsorts have often faced enormous challenges. So have their families and so do children with LGBT parents. But that’s only one side of the story. In fact, one page in a big book of strength, humour, fun, solidarity, extended generational support, complexity, diversity and above all, nurture and warmth. “The purpose of LGBT Children, Young and Families Day is to celebrate once a year all that’s wonderful about belonging to an LGBT family, whether you’re parents or carers or children or part of a LGBT youth friendship group. We want the day to become an annual focal point for schools and youth projects to jump on the Allsorts bandwagon and shout: LGBT children, young people and families are great, let’s celebrate!” For more information view: www.allsortsyouth.org.uk/ or to ‘like’ their Facebook page and spread the word, view: www.facebook.com/LgbtChildrenYoungPeopleAndFamiliesDay?fref=ts ASDA GIVES BACK TO COMMUNITY M ASDA supermarket at Brighton Marina operate a Chosen By You Given By Us scheme to benefit local organisations. Every two months, through their 'colleague vocal group', three similar charities are chosen for customers to decide who will receive cheques for £200 and two cheques for £50 each. Nomination forms are available on the community board in all ASDA stores throughout the country. Every time a customer shops at ASDA they are given a token to put it in the tower of their favourite charity. After two months the charity with the most tokens receives a cheque for £200 and the other charities get a cheque for £50 each. The money comes from the ASDA Foundation and the scheme runs countrywide and is a way that ASDA gives something back to the community. Last month Philip Derbyshire, ASDA GSM (centre) presented cheques to: (left to right): Gary Pargeter from Lunch Positive the HIV charity who provide a healthy meal for those who have and are affected by HIV every Friday at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church £50, Helen Jones from MindOUT, the LGBT mental health project £200 and Maureen Ratcliffe and Julie Rawcliffe from Sussex Beacon £50. The Sussex Beacon also received boxes of mince pies for their Christmas Carol Service in December.