‘We’ll be Proud to change lives of so many people’
A NEW £2.4m centre in Manchester aimed at providing LGBTQ+ people with community groups and support workers has opened.
The Proud Place on Sydney Street in the city centre is a state-of-the-art centre from LGBT+ youth charity The Proud Trust. The space will give LGBTQ+ people access to a number of advice and support services, alongside network opportunities.
The building sits on the site of the former LGBT Centre, which first opened in 1988 before being completely demolished in 2020. The original centre was created with discretion in mind, while the new gold building embraces an ‘out and proud’ culture.
The three-story build comprises of a cafe, community rooms, a city-centre roof garden and a library, which features the original ‘gay centre’ sign as well as newspaper clippings documenting the centre’s history. It also includes brickwork from the demolished building.
“It’s an honour for The Proud Trust to take care of such an important building on behalf of Manchester’s LGBT+ Community and we’re excited for this next chapter in our history,” said CEO Lisa Harvey-Nebil.
Newly-appointed Lord Mayor of Manchester, Donna Ludford, spoke about the importance of the centre. She said: “My daughter is gay, and if she would’ve had somewhere like this to come when she was coming out, it would have been life-changing for her.”
Carl Austin-Beehan, LGBT+ advisor to Andy Burnham, officially opened the centre alongside Lisa and Lord Mayor Ludford. He said: “The building has been completely transformed and will now be able to transform the lives of people not just here in Manchester but across the country and the north west too.”