Welsh culture platform teams up with LGBTQ+ charity to inspire wider audience

A digital platform that promotes culture and community life in Wales has announced a new partnership with a charity that offers opportunities to vulnerable young people.

The AM digital platform will team up with GISDA’s LGBTQ+ club as part of a strategic partnership for the next three years.

GISDA is a charity based in Caernarfon which empowers young people via housing, wellness, voice, support and opportunities, and their LGBTQ+ club since 2017.

It offers support to young LGBTQ+ people in the form of weekly clubs in Caernarfon, Blaenau Ffestiniog and Pwllheli, which provides a safe and relaxing space for their members to express themselves without obstacles.

Recently GISDA has secured further funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to help them continue to grow over the next three years.

AM is funded by the Welsh Government and is a website and app, which has grown to reflect the activity of over 300 creative channels, and has been used by over 282,000 users over the last two years.

AM’s aim is to ensure that Welsh cultural and community-based cultural activity is shared and enjoyed in an accessible and safe manner.

The partnership between AM and GISDA’s LGBTQ+ Club will work in various ways but mainly and hopes to share the club’s inspiring work to a wider audience and to use a digital medium to document and share the experiences of the members in a creative way.

Honour

The Club’s members will also promote the usage of AM and provide feedback about AM’s content and direction in order to ensure that AM’s growth continues to be relevant to their lives.

Siân Tomos, GISDA’s Chief Executive says: “We’re really looking forward to collaborating with AM and are very grateful for this exciting opportunity.

“AM and GISDA share the same values, especially in relation to the importance of the arts and the Welsh language – two core elements of GISDA’s work in supporting young people.

“We hope that this partnership opens doors to further opportunities and we’d be happy to discuss that with anyone.”

Alun Llwyd, Chief Executive of AM, added: “It’s an honour to work with the Club to develop the expression and grow the audience of the Club’s inspiring and necessary work.

“The challenges the members face are formidable and it’s vital that there’s support in place at every level for their work and also in order to inspire other young LGBTQ+ people across Wales to share the work of the GISDA Club.”