Support U

A few weeks ago, at the last full Council meeting, my colleague Cllr Tim Harris proposed the following motion:

“This Council believes that the residents of Reading would significantly benefit from a support centre in the town centre open at accessible times to provide specialist services such as health, relationship, employment and legal advice and to offer counselling and other services to the LGBT community.

This Council undertakes to provide genuine assistance with accommodation and £10k in start up costs for ‘Support U’ to establish such a centre which once instigated should be self-financing and run by local LGBT community members.”

The motion, which followed a petition along the same lines, passed with all-party support. I was delighted to be able to speak in support of this motion. Local authorities support a wide range of community groups and services – something which can be even more important in these difficult financial times. When we formed the administration in Reading last year (in coalition with the Lib Dems) one of the things we wanted to do was to open up the voluntary grants system to make it possible for new or different providers to obtain funding. Unfortunately, when we tried to do that vested interests threatened the Council with judicial review.

Support U is a charitable organisation which has been set up by Lorna McArdle and Andrew Stonehill-Brooks, who also run Reading Pride. The aim of the organisation is to help bring together a variety of services for the LGBT community in Reading and provide a hub for the community. Find out more here:

http://www.supportu.org.uk/

Lorna and Andrew have done a fantastic job getting this off the ground and getting so many signatures on the petition and they have great plans for Support U – but they needed a helping hand from the Council to get going.

This is a fantastic idea which should really help to plug some of the gaps in provision of services to LGBT people in Reading and make it easier for people to access those services – particularly people who for whatever reason find it hard to discuss their sexuality with service providers or are having difficulty coming to terms with it themselves.

Unfortunately, but perhaps not surprisingly, many commentators on the local newspaper website had a different view:

http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2101761_10000_grant_for_readings_lgbt_community

Clearly some people are incapable of viewing the world from the viewpoint of someone who is different from them, or appreciating that different people can have such very different experiences of life. Comments such as these simply remind me why the LGBT community does need dedicated support and resources – because clearly there’s still plenty of ignorance (at best) and bigotry (at worst) that we still encounter on a daily basis. It’s no wonder that some people might be reluctant to be honest about who they are, when doing so might attract such negative and often hurtful responses.

It’s a sad fact that many LGBT people struggle to reconcile their religious beliefs with their sexuality, or may fear (or have actually experienced) rejection from their family and friends, they may often be more likely to experience bullying than their straight counterparts. Tragically, many fail to resolve these issues and suicide or suicide attempts are all too frequent. As I said in my speech to Council, few of us have not been touched by the suicide or suicide attempt of a friend or loved one.

So this isn’t a plea for special favours – it is simply acknowledging that sometimes some groups of people need a bit of extra help, or they need services provided in a slightly different or more understanding way. Support U aims to do just that and I happen to think that it is a very worthwhile cause. I hope it will be a great success and that it becomes a service that other towns will look to emulate.

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