Aurora announces record $85,000 in grants for LGBTI community projects

Aurora has announced a record number of grants at their highest value ever – $85,000 – to be awarded to LGBTI community projects in 2019.

Eight grants will be awarded towards the completion of a series of projects benefiting the community, with the amount awarded up from $65,000 in grants last year.

The recipients of this year’s grants are:

• The Inner City Legal Centre, for a project to provide legal support to LGBTIQ homeless, and trans & gender diverse individuals
• The Gender Centre (Kids Group Project), to support a quarterly family support group for children & their carers
• Community First Step, to establish a new and locally connected LGBTIQ Youth Group in Fairfield
• Sydney Writers’ Festival, to provide a rainbow story time at Sydney Writers’ Festival in 2019
• Gender Centre (Film Project), with grant funding going towards developing a training film for health service providers on the needs [of] trans clients
• ACON’s The LOVE Project, for their project helping to increase LGBTI elder visibility through storytelling at the NSW Seniors Festival
• University of Wollongong Early Start & Rainbow Families Illawarra, to establish the Rainbow Families Illawarra Play Group
• Hunter Gender Alliance, for a Transgender and Gender Diverse Health Conference to bring together the trans community and health service providers in the Hunter region

Aurora’s Co-Chair Sam Turner said the charity group “has a proud history of funding smaller, grassroots level community LGBTIQ charities.”

“We are absolutely delighted to announce this year’s recipients.

“There are many diverse recipients this year, across a range of sectors and practise including education, health, arts, literature, legal support and youth,” Turner said.

“Each year, the quality and quantity of submissions we receive increases – which is a great indication of the work being done in the community,” added fellow Aurora Co-Chair James Skelton.

“The Board absolutely had our work cut out for us in devising this year’s final recipients.”

Aurora will continue to support its key funding partner Twenty10, which provides much-needed services, including counselling and housing, for young LGBTI people in need.

The charity’s major fundraiser, the Aurora Ball, is set to return later this year alongside other fundraising events. Aurora is solely funded through donations.

Since its inception in 1999, Aurora has awarded almost $1 million in grants to support youth outreach, counselling, inclusion, education, and creative projects. 2019 is the charity’s 20th anniversary.

For more information or to donate, head to www.auroragroup.com.au.