The Manchester Pride Charity has announced that the annual Manchester Pride Festival has raised an amazing £120,062.38 for the Manchester Pride Community Fund this summer, which will go to support hundreds of LGBTQ+ people in the city region.
The money was raised through the fixed donation on every ticket, direct donations, bucket collections over the weekend and fundraising from individuals and organisations. Every penny of the fund goes to supporting LGBTQ+ causes and projects in Greater Manchester, with the money being distributed by grants.
The Manchester Pride Charity is now inviting applications from charities, grassroots organisations and LGBTQ+ good causes for aManchester Pride Community grant.
The new grants application process has been co-designed in consultation with LGBTQ+ community groups based in Manchester to ensure the process is fair and easy and serves communities’ needs.
Mark Fletcher, CEO of Manchester Pride explained how happy he and the team are at Pride:
“We know how important it is for those buying tickets for the Gay Village Party to know that money is going directly to the causes and charities in Manchester that mean the most to our communities. So we are excited to share the incredible fundraising total we achieved this year.
“The £120,000 raised so far really highlights the kindness shown by Greater Manchester’s LGBTQ+ communities and allies. The team and I want to say a big thank you to everyone who purchased a tickets, donated or fundraised this year.”
For every ticket bought, £2.50 was donated towards the Manchester Pride Community Fund. The money will go towards many different causes such as, HIV stigma, LGBTQ+ events, mental health, sexual wellbeing, hate crime and more.
“We have raised over £1.5M since 2003 for LGBTQ+ causes, and Manchester has played a huge part in LGBTQ+ liberation in this country. We’re already so excited for next year’s festival and what’s to come next.” Mark added.
Manchester Pride has created a policy which provides a clear outline of the principles, criteria and processes that inform the approach that they take towards distributing grants to the LGBTQ+ communities of Greater Manchester.
Grant applications will be reviewed by Trustees and the Manchester Pride Community Grant Panel, which was established as a direct outcome of the charity’s “Pride In Our Future” consultation.
Organisations who would like to apply for a grant can go to: manchesterpride.com/grants
