Property Industry Fundraises For Manchester LGBT Charity As Pride Month Begins
You may not know it, but Manchester's Chorlton Street bus station has a special place in the UK's LGBT history.
In 1989 homeless teenager Albert Kennedy was killed when he fell or was pushed from the top of the car park in the city's gay village. For 16-year-old Kennedy, as for many others, living on the streets turned out to be deadly.
The outrage that followed prompted the foundation of gay youth homelessness charity the Albert Kennedy Trust.
Now, 31 years later, as Pride Month gets underway, a coalition of property professionals has launched a fundraising effort for the trust.
It is also appealing to landlords to help provide space for the trust to continue its work during the pandemic.
Do Some Good, a portal set up by professionals from SAY Property Consulting, deverellsmith and Greystar to pool real estate support during the coronavirus crisis, is supporting the trust this Pride month.
Since the outbreak, the trust has seen a spike in cases of homelessness due to young people being confined and inadvertently, or forcibly, outed to families and guardians who disapprove of that individual’s sexuality.
This has left a significant number of young people helpless with nowhere to go, with families threatening and enacting verbal and physical violence.
The property industry can pledge its support and offer space through the Do Some Good portal.
Throughout June, Do Some Good will also promote the visibility of LGBTQ+ property professionals through the #seemenow challenge on LinkedIn.
According to a survey by Estates Gazette, 71% of LGBTQ+ property professionals felt that not enough was being done nationwide within the industry to promote the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community.
“The coronavirus crisis has highlighted inequality in many parts of our society and for minority groups in particular," Greystar Flexible Housing Director Adina David said. "It is heartbreaking to see that in 2020 members of the LGBTQ+ community are still struggling to feel safe and are lacking decent shelter. We hope to see businesses across the real estate industry unite behind this cause and support the trust’s essential work.”
In the future Do Some Good plans to use the platform as a portal that brings together charities that require space, funding and resources with property firms that can support them.
