Belong To

Stand Up Awareness Week, taking place in schools, Youthreach centres and youth services all this week is supported by the Department of Education, and we are grateful to have the support of Minister for Education Norma Foley, TD who expressed her desire to see an end to anti-LGBTQ+ bullying today. Stand Up Awareness Week is named as an action in Cineáltas: Action Plan on Bullying Implementation Plan 2023-2027, and we’re proud to support the Department’s work in this area, working with schools across Ireland.

As we approach the Belong To Rainbow Ball on Friday 8th November, HSBC Ireland are proud to celebrate eight years as corporate sponsors of Belong To, an organisation that advocates for the LGBTQ+ youth community in Ireland. Since becoming their first corporate sponsor in 2016, we’ve been dedicated to supporting Belong To’s mission by hosting events during Stand-Up Awareness Week, Ireland’s largest LGBTQ+ anti-bullying campaign, as well as lunch and learn sessions aimed at empowering our employees, through education, to support LGBTQ+ young people. At HSBC, embracing difference is a core value. Our employees are vital to our success, and we are committed to attracting, developing, and promoting a talented workforce. Diverse perspectives advance new ideas and foster our entrepreneurial culture, creating successful outcomes for our partners, clients, investors and employees. We are really looking forward to attending this year’s ball to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and reflect on eight years of a meaningful partnership.

It's Stand Up Awareness Week 2024! This is Ireland's largest anti-LGBTQ+ bullying campaign taking place in schools, Youthreach centres and youth services across the country. Now in it's 15th year, the campaign works to make all young people feel safe and welcome in education and youth spaces and say no to LGBTQ+ bullying. 49% of LGBTQ+ post-primary school students in Ireland experience homophobic, biphobic or transphobic bullying. This week, hundreds of thousands of students are saying no to this and making LGBTQ+ inclusion a priority in their spaces in partnership with dedicated teachers, principals and youth workers. For more information on the week and the types of activities that being hosted visit www.belongto.org/standup/ #StandUpAwarenessWeek #StandUpAwarenessWeek2024

This Sunday, 3 November, three runners are taking on the Big Apple's biggest challenge... the New York City Marathon in aid of Belong To! Aisling Gannon Solr/S.C., Ciarán Finlay and glenn keating will be lacing up and taking on this mammoth challenge, all to raise vital funds for our life-saving services. As board members and former team members, they understand the impact that this fundraising will make to LGBTQ+ young people and their families. Wishing them the very best of luck! You can make a difference to LGBTQ+ young people by donating to their fundraiser: https://lnkd.in/etDKvcSq

#StandUpAwarenessWeek Inspo: There are just a limited number of FREE screenings left to secure for your school, for one of two beautiful, LGBTQ+ coming of age stories: Handsome Devil and Dating Amber. Both available thanks to our partnership with the Irish Film Institute. Details on how to apply at: www.belongto.org/standup/

We're less than a week away from Stand Up Awareness Week 2024! Next week, post-primary schools, Youthreach centres and youth services will be taking a stand against homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying. Our research shows that 76% of LGBTQ+ young people feel unsafe at school, but as Lauren Comer of Mercy College Coolock says, Stand Up Awareness week is the perfect time to show solidarity, community, and inclusion for everyone. To take part in Stand Up Awareness Week, head to https://lnkd.in/e3G5mTiS 🔗

We are delighted to once again be partnering with RTE 2FM for Stand Up Awareness Week 2024! 2FM will be sharing interviews with young people across the next two weeks about their experience growing up LGBTQ+ in school today and what we can do to make schools more inclusive and welcoming 🌈

Our Drug and Alcohol Senior Youth Worker Brenda Kelly appeared this morning before the Joint Committee on Drug Use to speak to Oireachtas members on the impact of drugs on LGBTQ+ young people, the issues that need to be addressed and the supports that can be put in place.   Key points from her opening statement: ▪️ 81% of LGBTQ+ 14–24-year-olds had taken drugs (not for medical reasons) ▪️ Bullying, victimisation and a lack of social support in childhood lead to higher rates of drug use among LGBTQ+ youth. ▪️ Negative reactions to ‘coming out’ and family rejection strongly influence LGBTQ+ young people’s drug use. ▪️ Support for the parents of LGBTQ+ youth are needed to reduce family rejection and isolation. ▪️ Drug and alcohol workers and those in the social and healthcare sectors must be provided with LGBTQ+ inclusion and awareness training to be able to meet the needs of their service users. The Joint Committee on Drug Use has been established to consider the recommendations in the report of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use, and we were delighted to be able to represent the voices and experiences of LGBTQ+ young people as the committee works towards its final report.   You can find the full statement on Oireachtas.ie here: https://lnkd.in/eNchnT2m

The final Stand Up Awareness Week training for post-primary school and Youthreach Educators takes place this evening from 6-8pm! During this interactive online training, you will learn about hosting Stand Up Awareness Week, meet staff from other schools and services, and learn about new activities. Registrations are still open, you can sign up by visiting www.belongto.org/standup 🔗

We welcome the Online Safety Code published by Coimisiún na Meán this week. Protecting young people online is a priority for us at Belong To, and should be a priority for all with a role to play from tech companies to our public representatives. This new code represents a step forward in addressing online harm to LGBTQ+ and all young people. But time will tell about its effectiveness, particularly in terms of the influence on tech companies to respond to complaints from young people about content on their platforms. For LGBTQ+ young people, online spaces are places to find community, learn more about themselves and have fun. But, online platforms are not always a safe place for LGBTQ+ young people, with the spread of harmful content, misinformation and anti-LGBTQ+ content. We know from our own research that 54% of young people do not feel safe online and 40% feel they need help in feeling safer online. We hope that this code will help to address the systemic issues and rising hate online, in order to help protect young people in online spaces, and would encourage reviews of the Code and its implementation in the coming years to ensure its effectiveness in achieving that goal. You can find our statement with links to the Online Safety Code on our website www.belongto.org 🔗