African Rainbow Family (ARF) is the only national grassroots registered charity (Charity Number: 1185902) that supports LGBTIQ people of African heritage and the wider Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic groups. Including people LGBTIQ seeking asylum. ARF was established in 2014 by a lesbian in the wake of some Commonwealth countries in Africa’s toxic and draconian anti-gay laws; persecutions and environment which seek to criminalise LGBTIQs for the preference of whom they choose to love. ARF provides: Support for LGBTIQ refugees and people seeking asylum Campaigning for global LGBTIQ equality Stand against hate crimes Support communities who face constant harassment, hate crimes and discrimination heaped on them by an ignorant society because of their sexuality or sexual preferences and or gender identity Our Vision is A World Without Prejudice. Our Mission: Building A Supportive Community. We are lesbian, gay, bi and trans people, from here and abroad. Created, run and led by people who are affected by the issues we are aiming to change. We understand each other, have got together to help each other and say to each other ‘It’s OK to be different’. We believe that our experience has given us the insight and empathy needed to support each other. We are a self-help collective, creating social change through the combination of systematic factors to influence government policies on LGBT+ asylum application claims, network with a diverse social and political organisations in the LGBT+ community. We remove isolation and support our emotional wellbeing through counselling and other confidence building and empowerment activities. From nothing and with no money we have developed a national network of over 250 people with branches in Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds. We heavily rely on volunteers to deliver the crucial and life saving work that we do. We will continue to help, support and nurture each other until our work is no longer needed.