We’re committed to working with our communities for positive change, and we believe that businesses can be a force for good.
It’s been a strange and difficult couple of months. Supporting community projects and other charitable causes is more important than ever, with these organisations coming under newfound pressure to continue their operations under adverse conditions for fundraising and social support. Despite the challenges we, and many others have faced recently, we have continued to do what we can to champion the efforts of the For The North Foundation, and we’re incredibly grateful to everybody that’s supported us in this. We’ve decided to adapt the structure of our Foundation’s approach, and starting from now, it will focus its fundraising through quarterly social missions. This means that every three months we will be advocating a different social cause. We’ll be linking our fundraising and grant-giving to align with this mission.
We’re proud to announce that the first of these social missions will focus on supporting the LGBTQ+ community. The month of June represents the vital Pride movement, which is now celebrated globally after decades of incredibly inspiring and arduous activism from the queer community. Why June? June was the month of the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York. Tired of being harassed by the authorities, triggered by yet another vicious police raid of a bar in the city’s gay district, a week of protests ensued, led by the city’s brave LGBTQ+ community. These cries for justice spread globally throughout the month, with the notion of the Stonewall Riots losing much of their geographical association and becoming a worldwide call for Pride. These events led to the first gay pride marches, which after years of serious efforts and activism, have become commonplace worldwide on the final weekend in June.
The events surrounding Stonewall in 1969 were spearheaded in large by people of colour, such as Miss Major Griffin-Gracy and Marsha P. Johnson. These established historical links between the LGBTQ+ and Black communities are, wrongly, often overlooked. Because of this, we think that it’s vital to ensure that supporting the queer community involves causes and missions that are wholly racially inclusive. The global racial justice movement shines a light on issues like these, which we are determined to take serious notice of going forward.
Today is Global Pride Day, and it marks the start of our social mission focusing on supporting LGBTQ+ communities. The progress that has been made since the Stonewall Riots is immense. However, there is still a huge amount of work to do in establishing true justice and equality for the queer community. The ill treatment is widespread, still, disproportionately affecting LGBTQ+ people of colour, particularly trans women. We are determined to raise awareness and support causes that help these groups.
The £3 donation included in our Keep the Faith 12 Packs will go towards raising funds for our Foundation, which will be given to a successful applicant group or organisation that shares our values and carries out important work that supports the LGBTQ+ community in the North.
We’ve designed limited-edition Keep The Faith stickers that fly the colours of the Pride movement, which are available on our webshop and at Northern Monk Refectory LDS for £1. All proceeds from the sale of these stickers will go towards the quarter’s grant fund.
The For The North Foundation will be opening for applications soon.
Keep the Faith. For the North.