An LGBT+ youth group in Cumbria is over the moon to have received over £375,000 worth of funding to continue their “life-saving”work in the community.
Pride in North Cumbria’s (PiNC) £375,181 boost from the National Lottery Fund, which is spread out over five years, is going towards their projects and funding staff and running costs.
Pride in North Cumbria, based in Carlisle run youth groups, youth drop sessions and a range of other projects for members of the LGBT community in north Cumbria.
Got told about the funding last month and we’ve just received it.
PiNC Project Manager, Pam Eland , said the centres services are “very vital”.
“Our services are life-saving.”
According to the LGBT in Britain report, published in 2018, one in eight LGBT people aged 18-24 said they had attempted to take their own life in the last year.
The report, based on YouGov research also said that half of LGBT people (52 per cent) said they’ve experienced depression in the last year.
Pam said that there is still a way to go in making people more aware of the challenges facing the LGBT community.
She added: “I think people need to be made more aware of LGBT issues.
“It doesn’t matter where you are. There’s always going to be issues, especially in minority communities because people just want to discriminate.”
In a statement about the funding, PiNC said: “We at PiNC are so grateful to the National Lottery Fund for seeing the importance in the work we do for LGBTQ+ people in Cumbria and awarding us the funds to keep our vital centre open.
“We are happy to have wonderful new staff as a result and are now able to be open 5 days a week for any LGBT+ person who needs out help.”
PiNC are preparing to launch their WHY PRIDE? project on June 1.
The four-month project that will deliver workshops and events exploring why Pride started.
