WEHUNGER
A Zine About Community JAENA W.B.
CONTENTS
Cost Of Living in the UK
Queer People Are Hungry
Queer People Are Lonely
Is There A Solution???
Build/Feed Your Community
Your Challenge
Queer Projects To Know
There is no doubt the last few years have been Hell. From Covid, to police racial brutality, to trans political attacks - we have not had it easy. And to top this all off, we cannot afford to eat!
“ L e a d e r s h i p d o e s n o t h a v e t o b e i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c ( … ) i t c a n b e c o l l e c t i v e . ”A n g e l a D a v i s
QUEER PEOPLE ARE HUNGRY -
More than 1 in 5 families skipped meals or went a day without eating in September 2021, which has more than doubled in the last year and a half.
25% of transpeople sleep rough, and over 33 THOUSAND queer people live in poverty - we are starving. Literally.
S t a t i s t i c s a r e U K b a s e d , t a k e n f r o m S t o n e w a l l ( c h a r i t y )
Queer People Are Lonely -
Over 40% of adults in Britain are recorde to experience lonliness, a figure that is constantly rising post-Covid. Not only that but almost 30% of queer people have no network of LGBTQ+ people in their lives.
Young adults under the age of 30 and those in lower-income households also suffer higher levels of daily loneliness, which only increases with being queer and/or disabled.
U n h o u s e d p e o p l e , s e x w o r k e r s , e xp r i s o n e r s a n d p e o p l e w i t h l o n gt e r m h e a l t h i s s u e s a r e m o s t a t r i s k f o r f o o d i n s e c u r i t y a n d m a l n u t r i t i o n ( R e d C r o s s )
Is There A Solution???
There isn't a simple solution to fix the systemic poverty and lonliness we face. Instead I've brainstormed ideas to answer two questions: 1) How can we connect to one another? 2) How can we feed our community when we face food insecurity?
BUILD YOUR COMMUNITY
Community is built through seemingly small and insignificant acts, like chatting to neighbours or joining clubs:
Start A Book Club at Your Local Library
Reach Out To Friends & Neighbours to Offer a Helping Hand
Join A Craft Circle/Stitch-N-Bitch Invite People Over For Tea
Reach Out Online, Start Local Clubs and Groups For All Your Hobbies, Join A Union, Pur Up Fliers and Leaflets, Contact Local Newspapers, Volunteer Your Time and Skills -
FEED YOUR COMMUNITY
Contact Foodbanks, Soup Kitchens, Local Businesses, Supermarkets, MPs/Politicians etc.
Start a Community Gardening Scheme Campaign for a Community Kitchen
Help Make a Free Breakfast Cub for School Children & Parents
Volunteer as much as you can, donate if you are able, and talk to everyone you know about doing the same!
your challenge:
ORGANISE A COMMUITY MEAL
This does not have to be a mammoth of a task ...
1) start off small such as a coffee morning or a picnic
2) invite friends, make posters or post on social media about the event and ask people to bring food to share
3) make friends with everyone who attends
4) continue having regular mettings
Whether your meal includes 3 people or 20, community meals are a vital act of mutual aid and activism.
"We have a right to live openly and proudly...when our lives are suppressed, everyone is denied an understanding of the rich diversity of sex and gender expression and experience that exist in human society."
- Leslie Feinberg
MUTUAL AID, MANCHESTER
Grassroots mutual aid group, redistributing resources and providing support to trans and nonbinary people in Greater Manchester, UK.
MODERN QUEERS
Modern Queers is a quarterly text only print newsletter distributed by post. It is an attempt to create new networks, share news and be physically connected around the world in the digital age.
P
E C
TRANS
Q U E E R
R O J
T S T O K N O W A B O U T
QUEER YOUTH ART COLLECTIVE
Online & In-Person Youth Group for Queer People Aged 18-25. All Session Are Free To Attend - Art, Writing and Performance Workshops
QUEER FOOD PROJECT
Connecting queers in Greater Manchester through food sharing & social eating - community meals and mutual aid
Q U E E R P R
O J E C T S T O K N O W A B O U T
LONDON LGBTQ COMMUNITY CENTRE
A sober, intergenerational, intersectional LGBTQ+ Community Centre set up by and for the community. Offering support, space for social groups and classes.
THE LEDWARD CENTRE
Brighton's LGTQ+ Community and Culture Centre which includes a cafe, gallery and cinema, bookable meeting rooms and is building a kitchen for community meals.
Q
E E
E C
S T
U
R P R O J
T
O K N O W A B O U T
QUEER ART CLUB, NORWICH
Run by illustrator Emily Foster, Queer
Art Club is a social group of queer artists and crafts people who come together in cafes and bars to knit, sew, paint and built community.
TRANS CAN SPORT
Trans Can Sport is a not-for-profit project based in Brighton and Hove. It was created to get trans people into exercise and healthy living, and aims to help anyone who feels their transgender identity makes participating in sport difficult.
Q U E E R P R O J E C T S T O K N O W A B O U T
this zine is free to download and print, it is NOT FOR SALE and cannot be sold by any given individual or business.
Jaena W.B (they/them) is a writer and acvtist from the South of England whose work reflects both the fantastical imagined futures and reallife experiences of queer people.
To find out more, visit their website www.jaenawb.org
