Brighton Pride raised £100,000 for local good causes last month, Pride director Paul Kemp said.
Mr Kemp said: “I am thrilled to be able to announce we have broken our fundraising target for 2016 and matched the record fundraising of our 25th anniversary year in 2015.
“This year £90,000 has been raised for the Rainbow Fund and £10,000 for the Pride Social Impact fund. Pride has now raised over £310,000 over the past four years.
“It has been a challenging year for Pride. Money raised from parade collection buckets and business contributions towards fundraising is lower this year.
“With many businesses across the city benefiting commercially from the influx of Pride visitors it remains disappointing that more don’t help with the fundraising effort.
“Over 60 per cent of visitors to Pride come into the city by train and with an announcement by Southern railway to find alternative means of transport and the planned strike from Sunday (7 August) at midnight, clearly this may have deterred visitors to the city and affected business in the city.
“Wristband sales for Sunday Pride Village Party this year were down by two thirds.
“This year the Pride Parade had the biggest number of participants ever and there were new festival sites across the city.
“The Pride Festival in Preston Park has received the best feedback ever from visitors.
“Brighton and Hove Pride is recognised as the UK’s biggest pride festival bringing in an estimated £18 million to the local economy.”
Pride said: “The Pride Rainbow Fund Grant Awards will take place at the Hilton Brighton Metropole in September when grants will be distributed to local charities, community groups and good causes.
“In addition to Pride’s continued commitment to our fundraising for the Rainbow Fund, in 2015 we also established a Social Impact Fund from Pride’s additional activities.
“Pride will continue to work with community organisations to develop projects and ideas that could be of social benefit to the wider community.
“The Pride Social Impact Fund applications will open in October with grants being awarded in early 2017.”
After years of organisational and financial difficulties, Brighton and Hove Pride has been on a stable footing for the past four years.
The event is organised by Brighton Pride CIC, a not-for-profit community interest company (CIC).
Pride added; “All ticket revenue raised goes directly to the operational and running costs of producing the Pride Festival, LGBT+ Community Parade, Pride Village Party and community fundraising towards the Rainbow Fund and Social Impact fund.
“Groups benefiting from our 2015 grants to the Rainbow Fund include Allsorts Youth Project, who provide vital support for young people, MindOut, who deliver pioneering work for people with mental health issues, GEMS and Older and Out both organisations who are providing essential social networking and support opportunities for older people, and the LGBT Community Safety Forum, who facilitate delivery for the Accessibility Matters project making Pride more accessible and safer for disabled, blind, deaf and older people.”
FAO Paul Kemp…your arrogance and mis-reading of the views of local people is amazing…we Christians and others find this whole circus obscene, promoting as it does unGodly practices between mainly men but also women. The money you may have raised is tainted and cannot be put to good use by them…
No Christian/Jewish/Muslim/Hindu/Buddhist
would accept your tainted gold
Wow! time travel! Someone has come through from the 1950s!
Hello time traveller, are you still there?
You’ve come through to the 21st century, I’m afraid people are too intellegent to believe that nonsense now so please go back to where you belong and we will carry on doing good work by actually combating hatred instead of cultivating it
Well done Brighton Pride, excellent job once again.