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Rainbow Ball Committee with Rowcroft Staff

Published: Monday 29th July 2019

Rainbow Ball Looks to
Youth and Renewal

Torquay’s annual Rainbow Ball is on course to bring the bay another spectacular charity evening, after raising as much as £17,750 last year for the worldwide Elton John Aids Foundation and our own Rowcroft Hospice.
In a new initiative for 2019, joining those two good causes will be a third beneficiary.
The Ball is to endow funding to enable the creation of Diversiteen Torbay - a youth group aimed at supporting local teens who may be coming to terms with being LGBT+.

New Challenges for a New Generation

With the Ball’s origins dating back to the 1990s as a response by the gay community of Torbay to the HIV/Aids pandemic of the time, the move comes in recognition that the generation born since then faces its own challenges.

HIV is now both manageable and avoidable but education about that virus and other health risks remains patchy. And despite great advances in LGBT+ equality, young people in the age of social media can feel all the more bombarded by content that undermines their confidence.

Despite great advances in LGBT+ equality, young people in the age of Social Media can feel all the more bombarded by content that undermines their confidence.
After embracing Rowcroft as a charity that cares for people towards the end of their lives, the organisers this time want to provide similar support to an often vulnerable segment of those in the bay who are just approaching adulthood.

Diversiteen Torbay is registered as Community Interest Company 12275964.

The Rainbow Ball 2019

The Ball itself continues its rejuvenation with a new headline act - Danny Beard, Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist and winner of Drag Idol UK.
The Rainbow Ball 2019 takes place at the Riviera Centre on the evening of Saturday November 30, offering a three-course dinner, a live auction and raffle as well as dazzling cabaret show, band, DJ and dancing.

With a maximum of around 400 seats at the Ball, tickets are going fast at rainbowball.org.uk/tickets.

Tickets cost £55 apiece plus £2 booking fee. For every 10 tickets you order, one will be free.
The Rainbow Ball relies on its Sponsors to maximise its fundraising.

If you’d like to help by becoming a Sponsor, please contact us here.

Creating Opportunities for the Future

A successful event will enable the Bay’s intended youth group to be brought into being in 2020, complementing similar services in centres such as Exeter and Barnstaple.
Overseen by accredited social workers, the group will provide a safe and open atmosphere for youngsters aged 13 to 18 to share their hopes and fears, enjoy social events, make friends and become confident members of society.
As one teenage participant in an existing Devon group describes it: “Before, I felt sad, angry, and depressed. After coming to the group for the first time I couldn’t stop smiling.”