The organisation has announced the recipients for its inaugaral Community Action Fund
BY KRYSTA MCKENZIE, IMAGE BY DIEGO MAESO
UK Black Pride (UKBP) has spent the last 18 years providing a space for Black and brown LGBTQIA people to find community and have solace from the struggles that we face in this country. They host the Black Pride celebration every summer, and have a range of events and workshops throughout the year (most recently a wellbeing workshop that took place on 18 February). This space is essential because the experiences faced by queer people of colour are often very different to our white counterparts and that can feel isolating.
It’s clear that the organisers of UK Black Pride hope to continue to expand the impact their work has, because for this year’s anniversary, the organisation has launched the first round of winners of the Community Action Fund (CAF). This fund was set up in partnership with Stonewall and NYX Professional make-up to support the growth of other community focused organisations. CAF was launched as a response to the result of of UKBP’s We Will Be Heard report, which revealed some of the issues faced by queer POC. The recipients of the CAF have range of initiatives but they all have the goal of combating issues raised in the We Will Be Heard report – such as: dealing with mental and emotional health, creating safe spaces, and addressing workplace prejudice.
£75,000 was proportionally split between the following 10 organisations: Melanin Skate Gals & Pals, Queer China, Black Angel 25 – Feel Free To Be, Colours Youth Festival, Dancing Queer Robot Workshops, MindOut – Decolonising Wellness, The Gay Ground, The Noir Narrative, VFD QTIPOC Residencies, and Out & Proud African LGBTI (OPAL).
Lady Phyll commented: “We’re proud to partner with NYX Professional Makeup and Stonewall to be able to support grassroots organisations doing such uplifting and urgent work within the community. A lot of them are run by a small team or just one person, so we hope the CAF can help them hire the space and equipment they need, pay for specialist support and continue to do the necessary work that larger bodies often overlook. It’s no coincidence that we’re announcing this during LGBT+ History Month; it’s important to look to the past for inspiration whilst we support the next generation of changemakers”.
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