Starting somewhere for a new LGBTQ+ magazine
Posted: 23 August 2021, in News
It’s been a busy old time here at Somewhere as we have just finished our first year of trading, and what a first year it’s been – plus we just found out we’ve been shortlisted for a Social Enterprise Scotland Award!
Myself and “Somewhere: For Us” magazine Co-Founder/Co-Editor Thomas Anderson-Thatcher (he/him) are super happy to have just published Issue Four of our 98-page magazine, Somewhere: For Us celebrating queer and ally arts, culture, heritage and enterprise across Scotland.
We launched in November last year (after a 5-month COVID delay) with our first issue, followed by our fab Beano collaboration in February for Issue Two. Our third issue was out in May for Pride Season and now here we are with our annual Festival issue for August through to October.
The response to the magazine has been a revelation and we can safely say through the hundreds of messages we’ve received, that we are proud to have been a way for the LGBTQ+ community to connect up in COVID times. It’s been so important to have something special to look forward to in the post, reminding us and our allies how amazing we all are and how many positive things are still happening, despite the many challenges we’re all facing.
As well as a magazine, our members also get a freebie gift with every issue, and they get to give back to the community directly. 20% of all membership income goes straight into our two new funds, the Somewhere: Arts & Culture Fund and Enterprise & Research Fund, and by the end of October, we will have supported at least 20 LGBTQ+ creatives and businesses. We also run a Pay-It-Forward scheme, meaning we can offer free access to the magazine to people who can’t afford to buy a copy at this moment.
We’re also really excited about our Rainbow Enterprise Network which is the first of its kind in Scotland and the UK. Soft-launched last November, alongside the magazine, we’re connecting up LGBTQ+ and ally businesses of all sizes and shapes across the country, creating a new space for queer businesses to thrive, to create new collaborations and projects and to raise the visibility of LGBTQ+ owned enterprises.
LGBTQ+ and ally organisations of all sizes across all sectors joining our business network get a magazine subscription as part of their membership, as well as discounts on advertising, and access to members-only events, coaching circles and workshops. Also key is access to our mentoring and peer mentoring schemes, so we all get a chance to share our experience and support each other.
We also have other social impact projects with partners across Scotland. Our Somewhere MBA LGBT+ Scholarship and Mentoring Programme in partnership with the University of Edinburgh Business School is about to enter its third year, and our Somewhere at the Fringe project championing the LGBTQ+ shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has been so successful, we are now a Strategic Partner of the Fringe Society for 2021-2022. We’re particularly excited about our new Collaborative Doctoral Award too, which is focusing on LGBTQ+ entrepreneurship in Scotland, with the Rainbow Enterprise Network as fieldwork.
To find out more about our Somewhere: For Us magazine and get your copy, visit www.somewhereforus.org and www.buymeacoffee.com/SomewhereForUs.
For more about our Rainbow Enterprise Network and our other projects, visit our main site at www.somewhereedi.org
Kathryn Pierce (she/her), Founder/Director of Somewhere EDI CIC.
