WIREDGOV

When Peckham-born boxing legend Frank Maloney revealed he was undergoing a sex change to become Kellie, he was finally putting to end a lifetime of turmoil. Now Big Lottery funding will be used to help young people in London struggling with their own gender issues.

Gendered Intelligence in Camden has received £10,000 from the Big Lottery Fund’s latest Awards for All grants, one of 257 projects sharing a total of £2.3m across the capital . The group will use the funding to provide a series of ‘Knowledge is Power’ workshops for young transgender people that will help them take pride in their identity, become less isolated and tackle all forms of prejudice. The project will also help them to talk through issues with their families and friends.

Jay Stewart founded the charity after realising that he was transgender himself and, after chairing a community group, saw the opportunity to set up a project to work with younger people. He believes that Kellie Maloney’s story has shone an important spotlight on the issue.

“All awareness is good and Kellie’s story is a chance to say ‘let’s have a discussion, let’s have a debate and really talk about the issue of gender’. At the moment there isn’t a lot out there to help young people who have questions or are confused about their gender. We’ve even had people travel overnight from Scotland to attend our sessions.  This Awards for All funding will make a huge difference to us and help us to explore the idea that knowledge of transgender issues is crucial to the wellbeing of the young people affected and, importantly, their families.’

The workshops will start next month but Gendered Intelligence has been working since 2008 to help other young people like Jay. 

“It’s been a long slog but it’s worth it,” says Jay. “We have lots of young people attending our sessions but we know there must be more out there, sitting alone in their bedrooms, not knowing where to turn. We can offer them knowledge and advice and now the new workshops should help us reach out to them.” 

Other projects celebrating Awards for All funding include the Charles Dickens Museum, also in the Borough of Camden, which has great expectations for its £2,900 award that will help deliver creative arts workshops and an exhibition aimed at disadvantaged young people. 

Meanwhile in Lewisham, the Fruit Fly Collective has landed £10,000 to provide information packs to children whose parents have been diagnosed with cancer. This will help them develop ways of communicating their experiences and emotions and develop better approaches to dealing with identified health and well being issues in the community.

People in Brixton could soon be pulling on their wellies and mucking in with an urban farm after the Brixton City Farm project harvested £10,000 to study ways of establishing a farm to provide multiple community benefits.  

Over in Southwark, the Mind & Soul Community Choir is singing the praises of a £9,000grant that will enable the project to form a choir made up of inpatients from mental health units, staff and volunteers who will develop their own singing workshops and take part in performances. This will break down the stigma associated with mental health problems and help people who are suffering from social exclusion.

Lyn Cole, Big Lottery Fund Deputy Director for England, said: “The fantastic thing about the Awards for All programme is the huge range of charities and good causes that the programme helps. I know the groups receiving funding today will make the most of the opportunity and I hope they inspire others to get in touch so we can help even more people and communities across London.”