Funding boost for sex work outreach plans
SEX worker-led charity Umbrella Lane is to use new £50,000 funding to set up a street outreach project in Glasgow. Based in Glasgow, the charity works to support people who engage in selling or exchanging sexual services in person and/or online.
Now it has earned £50,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund’s Lived Experience Leaders programme.
It comes as many workers are experiencing financial hardship due to the effects of the pandemic.
Charity founder Dr Anastacia Ryan said: “Sex worker involvement and leadership have been fundamental values of Umbrella Lane since its inception in 2015.
“As a peer-led project, committed to the transformative potential of leadership amongst stigmatised and marginalised communities, we will actively train and support sex workers who wish to take a more active role in the organisation and champion our mission to promote a stigma and discrimination-free society towards sex workers.”
The two other Scottish organisations to receive a share of £150,000 are Resilience Learning Partnership and Deafblind Scotland.
The Lived Experience Leaders programme was created to support organisations to better embed people who are experts due to their experiences in all aspects of operations - including making it central to Covid-19 response, recovery and renewal.
Umbrella Lane provides community, support, safe spaces and advice; recognising the choice and diverse reasons for starting sex work, moving on from sex work and gives support without judgement.
Prerna Menon, co-ordinator of the organisation, said: “This funding will allow Umbrella Lane to go further in our mission to create positive change for all sex workers in Scotland by expanding our outreach to the most marginalised workers and by supporting other organisations to develop a meaningful and effective trauma informed approach through creation of a Sex Worker led training programme.”
Umbrella Lane said the funding will be used to create sex-worker led training programmes to be delivered to third sector and mainstream services to help create a more inclusive society for sex workers.
It will also be used to start a street outreach project across Glasgow and Edinburgh.
GOVANHILL Baths Community Trust has been awarded nearly a quarter of a million pounds for five artists in residence.
The cash comes from a share of a £6 million Scottish Government emergency Covid-19 fund, split across 26 organisations.
Under the banner of Creative Scotland’s new Culture Collective programme, the £227,225 to help deliver an ambitious programme, co-designed and co-created with the local community, in partnership with Tramway and The Workroom dance studio-space.
The programme will provide five practitioners with a year’s work in the Trust’s organisation, embedding them in the community.
Fatima Uygun, manager of Govanhill Baths Community Trust, said: “The opportunity to join a national network that’s focused on strengthening collaborative creative practice will really benefit our community.
“We look forward to sharing further updates and announcing open-calls soon.”
This year is a significant one for Govanhill Baths Community Trust as it marks the 20th anniversary of the community occupation of the Calder Street building.