2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Andrew Henderson)
Pride In Moray have called on the LGBTQ+ community in the region to get behind the charity to ensure it can keep benefitting the people who need it most. An emergency meeting was called last month with the charity urgently seeking a new board , otherwise the 2024 Proud Scotland Award winners could have been forced to cease operations. Former treasurer Bob Andrew returned to take up a role as chair, but he still oversees a minimal group that barely covers the charity’s constitutional office bearers.
Coupled with a loss of major funding grants, and 2025 will have to be a year of rebuilding for the charity. “This year we are looking to fundraise, and to do that we really need the help of the community,” Mr Andrew explained. “We need people coming to our events.
We are holding a drag bingo night with Bobby Tucker on June 21, and that’s happening at 7.30pm at New Elgin Hall. We will have bingo, performances, a raffle with prizes donated by businesses who are all happy to support Pride In Moray and the cause in this area.
• Keep up to date with the latest LGBTQ+ news from around the north of Scotland by subscribing to our free newsletter, The Queerier “We are in the process of planning other fundraisers, and if people are interested they can find us on our socials. “We can’t say yes or no to whether we’re having a parade this year , because it all depends on how much money we have. “We really are depending on the community to back us for that to happen, because they would benefit from it.
It’s about us working with the community, for the community. “There are plans for something to happen on August 9, we just aren’t sure what that will look like yet. We will share everything as and when we can, because it’s important that the community knows what is happening, but the last thing we want to do is give false hope.
“In order for Pride In Moray to keep moving forward, and for the big Pride In Moray event to keep happening, we need the community’s support. “ We need to work with the community, for the community. It’s not about us, it’s not about me or what I want, for us it’s about what will benefit the community and what they want.
” Having been born and raised in Elgin, Mr Andrew understands how important it is for a group like Pride In Moray to exist in the area, and the difference that the charity has already been able to make over recent years. When it was threatened with closure, then, he knew he needed to step back into the fold to keep it going, despite initially looking to take a step back from the group after last year’s Pride event in Forres. “When I heard that the chairman had stepped down and there was a possibility of it disbanding, that’s what gave me the push to become chair, because I’m not letting this community lose Pride In Moray,” he explained.
“Growing up in this area and being part of the community myself, I tried to discover why Moray as an area always seems to be behind and doesn’t have the things that other areas do. “I wanted to bring everything here. My personal opinion is that nobody should have to travel to feel comfortable in their community.
We should have the same things everywhere else does, and that’s what gives me the fire in my belly to do this. “The previous board and committee were absolutely amazing, and it has changed things in the area. Pride In Moray started collaborating with Forres Academy to create inclusiveness in the school community, and they have been very welcoming of that.
They are keen to move forward rather than backwards, which is amazing. “There are quite a few things going on behind the scenes where we work with the community, for the community. “We are looking for people to work with us, and we are always open to ideas.
If the community has something it wants to see happen, or if they want to put on fundraisers for us, we will welcome everything because it will all go back towards benefitting the community.”.
