Supporting safe houses for LGBTQI asylum seekers

B&Q Foundation is proud to support LGBTQ+ charities across the UK, helping to improve community spaces and provide housing advice and support. So far, we’ve donated £316,317 to LGBTQ+ charities, which has helped fund essential projects – like our work with Micro Rainbow.

We supported Micro Rainbow to redecorate some of its safe houses for LGBTQI people in the West Midlands who were fleeing persecution. When LGBTQI people come to the UK to find safety, they are often forced to share accommodation with people who share the same homophobic and transphobic views they were trying to escape. This support helped to make Micro Rainbow’s safe houses secure and welcoming for LGBTQI people seeking asylum in the UK.

“Everyone deserves the right to a safe place to live, and especially those escaping such terrible conditions in their own countries,” said Jeannie Pitt, B&Q Foundation Manager. “We were pleased to support Micro Rainbow, to help those people that want to call the UK home.”

“I think living in the house made a real difference to my journey as a gay asylum seeker in the UK. I was no longer worried about hiding. I had spent my whole life in Zimbabwe hiding who I was. Everyone in the house was LGBT and no one had to hide who they were.” Said John, a gay man from Zimbabwe living in Micro Rainbow’s safe housing in the West Midlands.