This winter, we’re raising £3,000 towards our annual Christmas Eve dinner and running costs at the London LGBTQ+ Community Centre!
We’re so grateful for all the love, care and support you’ve shown for the Centre and making it your home. We want to continue doing this (and much more) for many years to come.
If you’d like to support the Centre over the winter months, here’s how:
Donate to support the Centre this winter
By donating to this campaign, your support will go to:
- Covering the cost to host our Christmas Eve dinner for 40 LGBTQ+ people
- Running the Centre (£60 per hour)
Read on to find out more about last year’s Christmas Eve dinner and how your donations can help to keep the Centre open.
Christmas Eve Community Dinner
Over the past three years, we’ve hosted a community dinner on Christmas Eve for 40 LGBTQ+ people.
The Food Chain cooked up a delicious coconut noodle soup for 40 guests last year and has served delicious meals at previous dinners. Plus, community member Shannon Higgins baked a selection of mouthwatering cakes and desserts. (They’ll be back with a menu of tasty treats.)
A donation of £15 will provide a Christmas Eve meal for a member of the community.
Tickets are sold out for the dinner this year. You can join the waitlist here. If you’d like to donate any gifts for dinner guests, we’d love to hear from you. Drop us an email at hello@londonlgbtqcentre.org.
Running the London LGBTQ+ Community Centre
Since opening the Centre in 2021, we’ve welcomed over 40,000 visitors and hosted 2,000 events!
We host an average of 40 events each week, led by LGBTQ+ facilitators. The events programme includes meetups and socials, health and wellbeing sessions, arts and crafts workshops and much more. We also signpost community members to LGBTQ+ services and support, offer affordable drinks and provide a free clothes and books from our library.
A donation of £60 could keep the Centre open for an hour, helping us to support the running of LGBTQ+ events and signpost LGBTQ+ people to relevant services.
This includes staff costs, electricity and gas (to keep the lights on and tea and coffee served!), and other operational expenses.
What the community say
We’ve gathered feedback from the community on their experience visiting the Centre over the years and what they’d love to see in future.
Visitors shared in our latest report reviewing the impact of the Centre:
- 97% rated the Centre extremely or very inclusive
- 88% agreed that coming to the Centre had a positive impact on their health and wellbeing
- 85% definitely or very probably experienced an improved sense of connection with or belonging to LGBTQ+ communities
Here are some of the ways the Centre has supported our community:
“The Centre is an amazing place that has been extremely important to me since I started coming two years ago. I really value the experience of community and connection in a sober and supportive space.”
“It just means so much to me, and it means so much to so many people. I know that it is there and it exists, and that we can access it if we ever need, if we ever need or want to.”
This year, we were able to fulfil one of our long-term dreams – to build a Changing Places Toilet!
We are one of 10 locations in Southwark with a Changing Places Toilet, which means we can welcome many more people to the Centre. We couldn’t have done this without the donations received from community members and grant funding.
You can read more about the toilet here and how the Centre has impacted LGBTQ+ people in London here.
What your support will do
As a small charity and community centre, we rely on donations, grants and the generosity of the community to keep our doors open. We have a super dedicated team of LGBTQ+ people working hard to continue building an inclusive, welcoming and inviting space for you – at the Centre and behind the scenes. (Meet our wonderful team.)
Your donations will help fund this year’s Christmas Eve Dinner, which provides a space for our community to be with each other at this time of year. The dinner costs cover the meals made (a main and dessert).
We are also raising money to go towards the Centre’s running costs during winter.
If we exceed our target, additional donations will be directed to another important area of our work.
Any support – whether it’s contributing to this fundraiser or sharing more about the Centre’s work – will help to keep our doors open. We want LGBTQ+ people across London to know we’re here and continue to provide a sober, intergenerational and intersectional space for many years to come.
How to donate to our winter fundraiser
We’re so grateful for any amount you’re able to chip in. You can donate via the form below:
Thank you for the love and support from all of us at the London LGBTQ+ Community Centre.
Not able to support with a donation?
We know times are tough and you may not be in a financial position to donate. If you’d like to support, but can’t donate right now, here are a few ways you can help us during the winter:
- Share this fundraiser with your chosen fam, mates, allies and LGBTQ+ supportive workplaces who can chip in
- Download our Fundraising Pack for fundraising inspo if you’re planning to host a fundraiser!
- We’re looking for hats, scarves and gloves to make winter packages for folks in the community who may need them. Email hello@londonlgbtqcentre.org if you have items to contribute.