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With less than 48 hours to save LGBT domestic violence charity Broken Rainbow, crowdfunding site GoFundMe has promised to match donations over the next 48 hours until the charity reaches its target of £25,000.
Broken Rainbow provides a domestic abuse helpline for LGBT people and has mere days to raise its total before facing closure for good.
The page has currently raised over £5,000 towards its target, but it still needs to raise another £20,000 in order to maintain its crucial lifeline for the thousands of LGBT people who use its services. In March, the charity came to the end of its main funding stream and, as in previous years, it has not had clear confirmation from the Home Office whether state funding will be extended.
Broken Rainbow opened in 2004 and has supported 42,000 LGBT people over the last 12 years. Uniquely, the charity offers support and information both to the victims and the perpetrators of LGBT domestic abuse. However, the climate of austerity has directly impacted LGBT-focused charities such as Broken Rainbow.
‘For our funding not to be renewed or replaced will result in the helpline services being severely reduced or potentially closed down,’ said Jo Harvey Barringer, CEO of Broken Rainbow.
‘We’ve supported thousands of LGBT people this year and, if we were to close, there are very few other services for them to go to, and not one that offers national support in the way we do.’
‘This situation is indicative to the current funding climate for small LGBT charities. We’ve seen a number of our sector partners close or reduce service provision this year and we do not want to go the same way,’ continued Barringer.
Kelsea Little, spokesperson for GoFundMe.com said: ‘We really hope the community will continue to get behind this campaign and help Broken Rainbow keep its services running. To help the charity at this crucial time, we will match each donation made to the campaign in the next 48 hours until the charity reaches its goal of £25,000.’
