Belfast Marathon 2027 for The Outside Project

I'm excited to say that this year will be the third year I'll be running to raise money for The Outside Project! For the past two years, I've taken on the Cambridge Half and decided that this year was time for a bigger challenge - the Belfast Marathon! The Outside Project is about solidarity, not charity. In my first year fundraising for them, Laik, Carla, Astro and the team ran the pilot of the Trans Winter Night Shelter in Hackney from December - April and ran it again the following year community funded, and even won a London Homelessness Award (LHA)! Since then, they have incredibly grown and expanded their services for those within the Queer community who feel endangered, who are homeless, including ‘hidden’ homeless youth.

Everyone deserves a safe, warm place to live. Times are tough overall, but without family support and your identity being reduced to a moral debate, this can get so much tougher. LGBTQ+ young people, particularly those who are POC and/or Trans, are disproportionately affected by homelessness. 

The Outside Project is the UK’s first LGBTIQ+ Community Shelter, Centre and DVA refuge. It is a grassroots movement led by LGBTIQ+ ex-homeless, homelessness professionals and activists. Housing advocates ensure whatever service is needed respects identity and has an understanding of the unique barriers and needs of LGBTIQ+ people. The LGBTIQ+ Centre fosters community and is a hub for connection and solidarity offering community space, housing advice and advocacy, showers, free shop, a weekly dinner party, homelessness recovery groups, space for other specialist grassroots organisations to operate, an LGBTIQ+ Library, and even their own special blend of Cafe Queero coffee beans and a range of Queer activities and workshops throughout the week!

Join me in supporting these amazing peeps in their work by donating to this page and sharing widely! xxx

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The UK’s first LGBTIQ+ Community Shelter and Centre. A grassroots movement led by LGBTIQ+ ex-homeless, homelessness professionals and activists.

In winter 2017 we opened the UK’s first LGBTIQ+ Shelter. In Spring 2019 we opened our Community Centre in Central London, just a stones throw from the Lesbian and Gay Centre of the 80’s. Over 7000sqft of open, office and residential space, this unique and innovative project is home to our shelter and the support, creative and activist groups we work alongside.

During the 50th anniversary year of the Stonewall Riots it is fitting to flip the narrative, centring our homeless siblings and those who feel left outside of mainstream and LGBTIQ+ spaces. The centre and shelter has made an immeasurable difference to our guests who will always be loudly and proudly at the centre of this project. We’re grateful for the support from the Mayor of London and our LGBTIQ+ community and allies across the country. We can’t thank you enough for standing beside us.

 Carla Ecola, Founder and Director.