DIVA Publisher, Linda Riley, has been awarded with the honour for World Homeless Day 2020
BY STONEWALL HOUSING
Stonewall Housing are thrilled to announce today that DIVA Publisher, Linda Riley, is their new House of Stonewall Golden Champion on World Homeless Day 2020.
Stonewall Housing was established in 1983 and is the only charity in the UK working with Homeless LGBTQI people of all ages. They provide supported accommodation for LGBTQI people who have nowhere else to turn to and are proud to provide the UK’s only Trans and non-binary specific supported housing scheme.
Linda Riley is a long-term supporter of Stonewall Housing spanning back to her early career as an editor for G3 magazine, when she remembers Stonewall Housing placing an advert in the back, promoting safe living spaces for lesbians and gay men.
Like Stonewall Housing service users, Linda understands how it feels to need a safe place to stay and the support from your community. Linda herself experienced homelessness at the age of 15 when she came out to her mother.
Each year Stonewall Housing supports over 1200 LGBTQI people who have been made homeless due to their identity to access safe accommodation.
Linda Riley Says: “I distinctly remember when I came out my mum saying but you’ll never be happy, you’ll never marry and have children, I am delighted to say I did all of those things.”
You can hear about all of this and more on a very special episode of the A Lesbian Affair podcast streaming 14th October available on Stonewall Housing’s website and all major podcast platforms. Linda talks candidly with Fundraising Manager Cat Haldane about her experiences of coming out, her affinity to supporting LGBTQI charities and why she’s become a House of Stonewall Golden Champion.
You can also read the full interview with Linda on Stonewall Housing Champions webpage here.
Steven McIntyre, Chief Executive of Stonewall Housing says: “I am just delighted to welcome Linda into the Stonewall Housing family as our Golden Champion. She knows exactly what it’s like to be LGBTQ+ and homeless and her story will be an inspiration to many of our service users. Linda is a champion not only to Stonewall Housing but to everyone in the LGBTQ+ communities in the UK and across the world. I am so proud to have Linda join our fight to end LGBTQ+ homelessness and excited to see what we can achieve together.”
If you would like to support Stonewall Housing to end LGBTQI homelessness please visit: http://stonewallhousing.org/donate/
Excellent!!! And so important on so many levels! 🙌