Businesses and community groups outraged after council’s pride funding announced day before events start

LGBTQ+ businesses and community groups have described a council’s planning of pride month as “ridiculous and incompetent” after funding was announced one day before events were set to take place.

The Southwark Pride Fund, announced at the February budget-setting meeting, allowed organisations to apply for up to £2,499 to put on events in pride month, which starts tomorrow.  

The fund totaled £30,000 with groups able to apply for funding between April 2 and 30.

But, many organisations have cancelled events or have been left out of pocket after the local authority delayed funding announcements from mid-May until today.

Piers Greenlees, 27, from Battersea, is the co-founder of The Rising, an LGBTQ+ pub in Harper Road, Elephant and Castle.

Over the past month Mr Greenlees and his team have planned the main stage of pride in Borough Yards, booking acts, organising hosts, the stage and tech setups.

Mr Greenlees said: “We found out today we were not getting any funding. The acts alone have cost us £3,000 and it’s all going to be put on us.

“It’s ridiculous and incompetent from the council.”

The Rising opened five weeks ago as the only permanent queer venue with an alcohol license in the area.

Mr Greenlees said: “We’re such a new pup, funding this ourselves is going to be a massive setback for us.”

This is the second year pride month has been hosted in Southwark.

Mr Greenlees said: “It was great to know the council were going to put money into this for us and the community, but now it seems like token gestures – they seem completely unaware of how infuriated this is.

“Pride is about making people feel seen, valued and celebrated. Messing us all around only makes it harder to organise legitimate LGBTQ+ events where people feel safe to attend.”

Internal queries from the Southwark Liberal Democrats revealed that £76,390 worth of applications were made meaning over half of applicants will not receive funding they applied for. 

Michael Zreika, 50, who lives off Elephant Park and runs It’s Culture Innit – a community and events group for gay, bi and trans men – was also told today that he would not receive his funding.

He said: “It’s taken a month for the council to respond to my application and their refusal doesn’t make any sense.

“They said they refused my funding on the grounds that my event locations aren’t in Southwark or I didn’t specify shows.

“But I applied for funding for theatre tickets to Southwark Playhouse and was organising a fete for charities and community groups to get together.”

Mr Zreika, who set up It’s Culture Innit eight years ago, said he will still host the events throughout pride but will have to take the money out of his own pocket.

He said: “It’s been a lesson for me not to assume the council is going to help. It’s a shame because it was such a great opportunity.”

Leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition in Southwark and co-organiser of Southwark Pride, councillor Victor Chamberlain said that, although welcome, the pride fund is “failing to match the ambition” of the local LGBTQ+ community. 

A spokeswoman from Southwark council said: “We are pleased to be able to support 19 community projects to hold events or otherwise help mark the Pride season in Southwark this year.

“A total of 35 organisations bid for small grants – up to a maximum of £2,500 each – to help fund their activities. The assessment panel, including a Southwark resident, reviewed each application against a set of criteria, including community impact and value for money for council tax-payers.

“Sadly, we are not able to support every single bid, and therefore selected those applicants who made the best case for funding. We sought to let successful and unsuccessful applicants know as soon as possible.”

Pictured top: It’s Culture Innit’s monthly mingle, organised by Michael Zreika, at The Rising pub (Picture: @itscultureinnit)