Aberdeen charity pleads for help amid funding crisis which could see service close within days

A charity offering support to LGBT+ communities in Grampian is facing closure due to a lack of funding.

Four Pillars, which has been operating in the north east since 2016, has warned that the service could be forced to close within days without support.

Until this year, the charity had been responsible for organising Grampian Pride, which saw thousands march through the city centre.

However, due to a lack of funding, Four Pillars was forced to cancel the 2026 event.

Now, the board of trustees has said they have faced “unprecedented challenges” over the past 18 months in securing funding, sponsorship and donations.

A statement shared on social media read: “Despite exhausting every avenue available to us, the financial pressure has become increasingly unbearable, leaving us facing the heart-breaking prospect of closure of Four Pillars and all its services from 6pm on Monday, November 16.”

According to the charity, it was forced to cut its staff from nine to four earlier this year, calling the situation “utterly devastating”.

They added: “Ten years ago, Four Pillars began at a kitchen table built on a simple belief: that every LGBT+ person deserves to feel safe, supported, accepted and valued. What started as a vision became a lifeline for people across Grampian.

“Four Pillars has become far more than a charity. We have become a family, a place of refuge, a source of hope and, for many, the only place where they ever truly felt they belonged.”

In a video, vice-chair John Doran said: “This will be a huge loss to our community in a northern region of Scotland where that support is of particular value far away from the wider network of resources that exists in other major Scottish cities.

“The need hasn’t disappeared, and the organisation does have opportunities in some cases to benefit from sustainable funding, if it can endure its current crisis.”

The charity, in its most recent year, made 9,384 engagements with people, including at its drop-in hub on Regent Quay.

Four Pillars is now appealing for donations to help bridge a £50,000 funding gap and keep their doors open.