The Leicester Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Centre (LLGBC) has been providing a service to the local community for over 30 years, yet this summer it faces closure due to possible budget cuts imposed by the City Council. "Initially our funding was to be taken away, then they gave it back to us, then took it away again and that’s where we are at the moment," says LLGBC manager David Graham. "We are still lobbying the Council to try to secure the funding and to make them aware of the huge gap that would be left should the centre be forced to close".
 | | David Graham - LLGBC Manager |
Last year LLGBC dealt with around 2,500 people either over the telephone or in person. If they have to close, it's clear thousands of people could be affected. Cllr Ross Willmott, leader of Leicester City Council says: “This budget cut was part of the Liberal Democrat/Conservative budget agreed last year. The Labour administration has set up a commission to look into the future funding of the voluntary sector which will, in due course, consider these issues." Formed in 1972 in a volunteer’s living room, LLGBC started life as an advice line for men who had been attacked. In the early 1980’s, it became one of the first LGB projects in the UK to receive funding from their local council. The centre relocated from King Street to 15 Wellington Street in 1997, where it still resides. It offers advice and information on issues relating to sexuality or other forms of discrimination. | "The Labour administration has set up a commission to look into the future funding of the voluntary sector which will consider these issues." | | Cllr Ross Willmott |
LLGBC runs a Youth Service that meets twice a week and work closely with schools, promoting sexuality issues and challenging homophobic bullying. They offer free use space and support for groups needing a place to meet. This currently includes a women’s social group, Leicester’s Gay group, which itself has been meeting for over 30 years, and a group for people with physical disabilities that meets there once a month. The centre has recently opened ‘No 15’, a café/arts space on the ground floor, that opens on Friday, Saturday and Monday from 11am to 3pm and serves refreshments as well as providing a space for local LGB artists to exhibit their work. LLGBC also runs a volunteering project working alongside other organisations such as the Police, NHS and City Council, offering training with a view to policy support and anti-discrimination work. The centre has also just started publishing its own community newspaper called LARGE (Leicester and Rutland Gay Experience). This will be a wide community project encompassing all manner of local issues and will be published bi-monthly. | 
