Proud and Diverse Cumbria secure £250,000 funding to support local LGBTQ+ community

Proud and Diverse Cumbria has been working alongside members of the county's LGBTQ+ community to secure £250,000 funding.

The money will go towards hosting Whitehaven's second Pride on the Harbourside Festival and providing a new centre which will host a social space and counselling.

The hub will offer a safe space for people in the community, and run projects that aim to promote diversity in the region.

Glen Jackson from Proud and Diverse Cumbria said: "We used last year as a feasibility study to see if there was a need for the area and we identified that there was a need to reach out to everybody who's just a little bit different in society and give them a safe space to go to.

"We're going to be delivering a new hub on number 25 King Street, right next door to boots.

"The hub will be a large social space with a cafe over two floors.

"It's going to have dedicated council rooms and a youth zone and dedicated youth workers.

Heather Homes from the Beacon Museum who are partners of the pride event said the new hub shows how the area is embracing "differences within the community".

"We couldn't not get involved, it was an initiative that was going to bring a new pride, a new vibrancy, a new energy to the town centre.

"It allows us to be open and have those conversations that otherwise maybe wouldn't have taken place some time ago.

"It really puts Whitehaven and the pride event at the front end and it puts Whitehaven once again on the map."

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