Be There campaign - RWLF 2020 grantee
The Rainbow Support Collective were awarded funding through the 2020 round of the Rainbow Wellbeing Legacy Fund towards the Be There campaign which would help support parents and whānau of rainbow rangatahi.
Be There campaign posters were displayed around major cities in Aotearoa
Be There is an awareness campaign aimed to educate and support the whānau around trans, non-binary, takatāpui, queer, intersex, and rainbow young people about how to be more inclusive, affirming and safe. It was established by the Rainbow Support Collective, a collaborative between rainbow-led support organisations across Aotearoa including RainbowYOUTH, InsideOUT, OutLine Aotearoa, Gender Minorities Aotearoa, Intersex Youth Aotearoa, Te Ngākau Kahukura, the New Zealand AIDS Foundation, Dunedin Pride, Qtopia, Waikato Queer Youth and Q Youth. The idea was based on research showing that whānau acceptance and support is an important protective factor for rainbow young people’s mental health.
The campaign’s website can be accessed here
During the first COVID-19 lockdown, Collective members supported young people experiencing rejection, isolation and violence connected with unsupportive home environments. The Be There campaign was developed to get simple information for whānau out online and raise awareness via a street poster campaign.
Since then, the Be There campaign has worked towards improving information and connection for parents and whānau, building safe and supportive whānau environments, and strengthening cohesion and collaborative working across the rainbow support sector. This support from the Legacy Fund contributed towards promoting the campaign’s key messages through street posters and website. Alongside this funding, the Collective secured two-year funding from The Tindall Foundation to develop the campaign into a bigger initiative including a more in-depth website, new research-based resources for parents, and a series of online workshops for whānau.
https://be-there.nz/
