3 minute read
Early responses to LGBTQ+ Community Input Survey
Chris Gull, chair of the Brighton Rainbow Fund and facilitator of the new LGBTQ+ community centre, shares early responses to the LGBTQ+ Community Input Survey, which is an opportunity to share how you've been affected by Covid and have your say on the future of the centre
The Community Input Survey also has information on how you can help get responses from those who are not online, and/or are unaware of The Ledward Centre and the survey. Some of what we can see from our responses so far (approx. 200 completed surveys).
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Effects of Covid
Loneliness: We asked people to choose from one of five options to describe their feeling of loneliness. We then asked what they would have answered before Covid. There was a significant drop in the percentage of those reporting ‘not at all lonely’ and ‘not so lonely’, and a consequential rise in those reporting ‘somewhat lonely’, ‘very lonely’ and ‘extremely lonely’… In short, respondents on average felt more lonely than before Covid.
Employment: A similar before and after question was asked about employment status, with the number in full-time employment dropping from 57% to 50%, those in part-time work rose 6% and those unemployed rose by 2%.
Financial security: Finally we asked how financially secure respondents felt, given a choice of 'no problems', 'doing well', 'barely managing' and 'not managing'. There was a slight increase in those mentioning that said they had 'no problems' and a slight increase in those saying that they were 'not managing', however the big difference came in the middle, with an 8.5% decrease in those saying they were 'doing well' and a 7.27% increase in those that said they were 'barely managing'.
A number of questions in the survey ask people to make suggestions of what they'd like to see us offer in the centre. We gave examples for them to tick (or not), and then the opportunity to make more suggestions.
Events in the Community Cafeteria: Here are our suggestions and what our respondents say they’d be interested in.
And here are the extra suggestions from the respondents.
We also asked which features people would like to see incorporated into the centre as a whole (as opposed to events in the cafeteria, which is reported above), and again we made some suggestions, and asked for more. The options regarding alcohol were: ‘alcohol free’, ‘only beer, cider and wine with meals’ (purple on the graph), or ‘also before events’ (pink).
The survey, which will remain open indefinitely, is proving to be really helpful in our planning. We now have a clearer idea of how the physical space can be constructed to allow the centre to be an accessible, safe, comfortable and welcoming place for all the diverse LGBTQ+ communities in Brighton & Hove, and of the systems and policies that will further those ambitions.
We would now like to hear more from individuals within our LGBTQ+ communities, either by completing the survey online at www.ledcen.biz/ survey, by taking part in focus groups, or by talking to us individually.
Some characteristics seem to be underrepresented in the responses so far, so we'd particularly like to hear more from you if you consider yourself to be LGBTQ+ and are:
Older (55+), young (up to 25), QTIPoC, BAME, an asylum seeker, disabled, blind or visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, autistic or neurodivergent, a refugee, trans, non-binary, intersex, queer, bisexual, a parent, a family with children, homeless, housebound, isolated, have mental health issues, don't have access to the internet or a smart phone, or any other characteristic that you feel we need to hear about to make our planning and delivery truly inclusive.
Perhaps, more importantly, you can really help by thinking about people you know who are probably unaware of this survey and encourage them to complete it. If they can't do that online, then please download and print the survey for them to complete, anonymously if they wish. The link to the survey form to be printed is www.ledcen.biz/printsurvey. The completed form can then be returned to Freepost GSCENE (just those two words). Thank you to Gscene for allowing use of its Freepost address.
