Lottery cash boost for new LGBT centre in Fife town centre

A move to open one of Scotland’s first dedicated hubs for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people in Fife has received a cash boost from the National Lottery Community Fund.
By Debbie Clarke
Published 30th Nov 2020, 12:30 BST
A grant for £8,275 will help Pink Saltire to create a new inclusive centre for the LGBT+ community in Fife, located in Kirkcaldy town centre.A grant for £8,275 will help Pink Saltire to create a new inclusive centre for the LGBT+ community in Fife, located in Kirkcaldy town centre.
A grant for £8,275 will help Pink Saltire to create a new inclusive centre for the LGBT+ community in Fife, located in Kirkcaldy town centre.

A grant for £8,275 will help Pink Saltire create a new inclusive centre for the LGBT+ community, and it will be located in Kirkcaldy town centre.

The funding will allow the charity to push ahead with plans for its enterprise space in the town, including making some internal changes to the former K2 Textiles building, which occupies a prominent corner position on Hill Street and Whytescauseway, just yards from the High Street.

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Stuart Duffy, charity founder, said he is delighted with the announcement of the money for the ambitious project.

Stuart Duffy and the team from Pink Saltire working inside the premises earlier this year.Stuart Duffy and the team from Pink Saltire working inside the premises earlier this year.
Stuart Duffy and the team from Pink Saltire working inside the premises earlier this year.

He hopes it will open at the end of December, although work was set back slightly due to flooding earlier this year.

He said: “We’re really pleased that the National Lottery Community Fund has chosen to invest in our work here in Fife, and in this new and ambitious project.

"With almost 10,000 square feet in the heart of the town, with the bus station right next door and lots of passing trade, we’re in a prime location to make a success of this new centre.”

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The charity has also secured a grant of £1,000 from Fife Charities Trust, taking the total raised to almost £10,000 for the venue.

As well as being the new base for Pink Saltire, the charity hopes to create an open and welcoming space for the whole community, including a cafe, shop, community-use meetings rooms and spaces, and a new queer enterprise hub. The building will also house exhibitions and performances to create a permanent base for LGBT+ people in Fife.

Stuart continued: “This will be a space we hope LGBT+ people will feel comfortable in and somewhere to call our own. People have doubted us in the past – said that ‘we don’t need LGBT groups here’ and we’ve proven them wrong.

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“They said we couldn’t have a Pride event here in Fife, that it wouldn’t work and nobody would come.

"Yet with community partners we made it happen.

"So I’m sure there are still people who doubt this new centre will work, but my message is simple – we’ll succeed here too.”

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Related topics:FifeNational Lottery Community FundScotland