A man from Amble is representing the North East in the final of the Mr Gay Great Britain competition, after being chosen for the work he does to support the LGBTQ+ community, both in his professional and personal life.
Paul Carruthers, now based in Leeds, works as a paediatric nurse, focusing primarily on LGBTQ+ patients, as well as looking after members of LGBTQ+ members of staff at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Paul has a husband and two kids through adoption. He said he has massively advocated for gay couples adopting, with one in six adoptions taking place now involving a same sex couple.
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The final, which is taking place at Alnwick Gardens on August 26th, is to be attended by Jane Percy, the Duchess of Northumberland, and finalists have to fundraise for charities that are chosen for them by the organisers.
Paul has spoken about the charities that he is fundraising for, as well as sharing his excitement at being selected for the final, and the possibility of being named the first ever Mr Gay Great Britain.
"The first charity that I am fundraising for is the Charlie and Carter foundation, which gives out grants to parents in the North East who's children are terminally ill, helping to support them through difficult times. I am doing a cycle ride from London to Paris in 24 hours to raise money for this.
"The other charity is Northumberland Pride, and I am hosting an event at Bobby's Bar in Newcastle, with drag acts and cabaret. There will be an optional five pound donation with all proceeds going to the charity.
"It's really exciting to be in the running for Mr Gay Great Britain. I have done a lot of advocacy work on same sex adoption and I would love to be able to continue doing this on an even larger scale if I am lucky enough to win the competition", he said.
Paul went on to talk about the day as a whole and explained a little bit about it to encourage people to get tickets and come along to celebrate LGBTQ+ people.
"The event will be a really fun day, and you just need a day pass to Alnwick Gardens to be a part of it. It's being billed as their big gay day and it's going to be a family orientated day out and just a massive celebration of the LGBTQ+ community which is absolutely perfect."
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