The Albert Kennedy Trust Maimakterion 2014 cause

With 64% of the votes, the Albert Kennedy Trust became the Maimakterion 2014 cause for Pandora's Kharis! The Metro CareRing and the Street Angels Hawaii both got 18% of the votes. Since 1989, Albert Kennedy Trust has supported Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) young people (up to 25 year old) who are homeless or living in a hostile environment in London, Manchester and Newcastle. Their services include supported lodgings, mentoring, training and advice & guidance. The cause was suggested by community member Ana Perez, who is currently holding a fundraiser for it.

To ensure that all lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans young people are able to live in accepting, supportive and caring homes, by providing a range of services to meet the individual needs of those who would otherwise be homeless or living in a hostile environment. The Albert Kennedy Trust aims to do this by:

• Providing appropriate homes through supported lodgings, fostering and other specialist housing schemes.
• Enabling young people to manage independent living successfully.
• Improving attitudes within society towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans young people.

AKT also provides bespoke training for housing, social care, support, fostering and adoption organisations. We are the experts in this field and once an organisation meets the standard required for supporting LGBT young people we reward them with the Albert Kennedy Trust Quality Mark. This mark shows you that the organisation that is caring for you knows how to in the best way possible.

Despite 10 years of progressive LGB legislation which has enabled young LGBT people to feel more confident to come out at an early age – the reality is that when they do they are still greeted with the same level of homophobia & transphobia at home or school experienced 25 years ago when AKT was established in response to Albert Kennedy’s death. A few facts about AKT:

• Annually the Trust receives over 2,000 calls for support across three cities: London, Manchester and Newcastle
• Over 6,000 nights off the street provided by AKT for young people in 2013 (excluding Purple Door)
• Over 1,800 hours of mentoring provided by AKT for young people in 2013
• Purple Door Project has already provided over 1790 nights accommodation for young LGBT people in need since opening in July
• Estimated that 1 in 4 homeless youths may identify as LGB or T
• 85% of our young people have faced some level of rejection by their parents just for being brave enough to come out and be who they are.
• Over 2/3 of AKT young men have been offered sex or been forced to offer sex to get a bed for the night
• Many young people will not use mainstream provision for fear of homophobia or transphobia from other service users or even the service itself.

You can now donate to Pandora's Kharis at baring.the.aegis@gmail.com or by clicking the 'donate' button to the side. Please, give generously to support this wonderful cause, and thank you in advance! The deadline to donate is 24 November, 2014.