The challenge that the global, political trend away from Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is creating for LGBTQ+ charities and their beneficiaries. As part of our Environment, Governance and Social (ESG) survey and report for 2025, Dr Alex Rhys, Chief Executive of It Gets Better UK writes about the challenges for LGBTQ+ organisations.
For organisations with a specifically EDI-related mission, this has been a particularly challenging year, both for them and their beneficiaries.
When I founded It Gets Better UK, our mission was clear: to fight self-harm and suicidal ideation amongst LGBTQ+ youth. The statistics are alarming. LGBTQ+ young people are significantly more likely to self-harm and attempt suicide than their peers. This isn’t abstract, it’s a daily reality for thousands of young people across the UK. That mission hasn’t changed, but the landscape in which we’re working has shifted dramatically. Over the past year, we’ve watched corporate funding for LGBT charities contract at an alarming rate. It Gets Better UK has experienced significant losses, but we’re far from alone. UK Black Pride lost 60% of their corporate funding. Across the sector, organisations that spent years building corporate partnerships are finding those commitments quietly withdrawn or dramatically reduced.
The timing couldn’t be more challenging. Because whilst corporate support retreats, the need for our work has never been more acute. LGBTQ+ young people are navigating an increasingly hostile environment, one where their very existence is politicised and their rights are treated as debatable. The mental health crisis amongst queer youth hasn’t subsided, it has intensified. Our programmes remain essential. The young people we serve still need us, perhaps more than ever.
This is the paradox we are living: the gap between need and resource is widening precisely when it should be closing. When external pressures on LGBTQ+ communities increase, when young people face greater challenges to their wellbeing, that’s when charitable support becomes most critical. Yet that’s also when we find ourselves fighting harder for every pound, every partnership, every programme.
It would be easy to frame this as a crisis of corporate commitment to diversity and inclusion. In many ways, it is. When economic pressures mount, we’re seeing which values were genuine and which were performative. But I’m less interested in assigning blame than acknowledging reality: we’re being asked to do more with less, at the exact moment when ‘less’ could have devastating consequences.
What keeps me focused isn’t optimism, it’s necessity. The young person who needs our support doesn’t care about our funding challenges. They need effective programmes now. So, we adapt. We become more creative with resources. We strengthen partnerships with other charities facing similar pressures. We make the case, again and again, for why this work matters.
There’s something clarifying about this moment. It forces us to prioritise ruthlessly, to focus on impact over optics, to ensure every pound we do have is deployed where it will make the most difference. We’re learning to be leaner without compromising the quality of our work.
We’re also drawing closer together as a sector. CEOs and senior leaders of LGBTQ+ charities meet regularly, not just to support each other, but to work as one sector rather than competing organisations. We’re stronger when we collaborate, share resources and insights, and present a united case for why this work matters.
But let’s be clear: efficiency and collaboration can only take us so far. There’s no clever budgeting trick that replaces adequate funding. No amount of innovation that substitutes for sustained investment.
For organisations considering their ESG commitments, the question is straightforward: what does meaningful support look like when circumstances are challenging? True partnership isn’t measured in the easy times, but in whether you remain committed when the work becomes harder and the need more urgent.
The work continues, because it must. And we’ll continue making the case for why supporting LGBTQ+ charities isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s essential.
On completing the charity ESG survey:
“When Eastside People invited me to contribute to their ESG survey, it felt like an opportunity to name what many of us in the sector are experiencing but struggling to articulate. Having data that captures these patterns, the timing of those decisions, and the impact on delivery – makes it harder to dismiss as isolated incidents. It’s evidence, and evidence matters when you’re making the case for why corporate ESG commitments need to go beyond rhetoric.”
On the free ESG survey being available to all charity and not-for-profit organisations:
“The fact that Eastside People offers this survey freely to organisations of all sizes matters enormously. Small charities like It Gets Better UK don’t have the resources for expensive benchmarking or sector research, but we need that intelligence just as much as larger organisations – arguably more so, because we’re operating with far less margin for error. When you’re making strategic decisions with limited reserves, you need to understand the broader landscape you’re operating in.”
Call to action for 2026:
“If you’re running a charity or social enterprise and you’re feeling these pressures, I’d encourage you to participate in the 2026 survey. The more organisations that contribute their experience, the clearer the patterns become. And clear patterns are harder to ignore. This isn’t just about documenting challenges – it’s about creating the evidence base that can inform better practice, more thoughtful ESG strategies, and ultimately, more sustainable support for the work that communities need us to do.”
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