Caroline Lucas.

Caroline Lucas was first elected to the European Parliament as one of the Green Party's first MEPs in June 1999 to represent the South East of England region. She is a member of the Parliament's Committees working on International Trade, the Environment, and Climate Change and the cross-party groups on LGBT rights, peace, health and consumer affairs, and animal welfare issues.

Dr Lucas is a Vice President of the RSPCA, the Stop the War Coalition, Campaign Against Climate Change and Environmental Protection UK (formerly National Society for Clean Air), as well as a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament National Council and a Director of the International Forum on Globalization.

She been named 'Observer Politician of the Year' and listed as one of the UK's most influential environmentalists by The Guardian, BBC Wildlife and Ethical Consumer magazines.

Dr Lucas hopes to represent Brighton Pavilion as one of the first Green Party MPs in the country after the next General Election.

She said:

"Allsorts is a vital and successful group. It makes all the difference to people trying to come to terms with their sexuality: one of the hardest things we ever do. But we mustn't forget that a visible community and excellent support services don't by themselves remove the stresses of one of the most difficult periods in our life - especially when homophobic bullying is ever-present in our schools, sexually-motivated attacks and abuse remain commonplace and even our Government is prepared to send gay and lesbian asylum seekers 'home' to face torture or imprisonment. We need to tackle the causes and cases of homophobia and ignorance as well as supporting the excellent work of groups like Allsorts, making it a little easier for all young people to come to a clearer and more positive understanding of their sexuality, not just here in Brighton - which has one of the most vibrant LGBT communities in the world - but in every country across the globe." .

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Angela Eagle.

Angela Eagle is not only an M.P. but also now Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury. She is one of the few public figures in Britain who feels able to celebrate her lesbian identity openly and be completely comfortable with who she is. Her level of achievement shows that it is possible to get to the very top in British politics despite media homophobia.

We feel deeply honoured that Angela has pledged her support for Allsorts and LGBT young people. Her twin sister Maria met with four members of Allsorts during the consultation phase of Youth Matters and modified the final draft to include LGBT youth. We presented Maria with an Allsorts Warriors cap to give to Angela with a message of thanks to her for being such a hero for us all!

A brief view of Angela's biography:

She has been Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Office (2001-02); the Department of Social Security (1998-01); the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Minister for Green Issues and Regeneration) (1997-98); and was an Opposition Whip (1996-97).

She has been on a number of Commons Select Committees, including the Public Accounts Select Committee; Treasury Select Committee, and the Treasury Sub-Committee. Angela has also been Vice-chair of the All-Party Equalities Group.

She was elected as the first ever Labour MP for Wallasey in 1992, after holding a number of posts within the Labour Party. Angela was educated at Formby High School, and then gained a BA (Hons) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics and St John's College Oxford. She worked for CoHSE (now UNISON) as a Researcher, the Press Officer, and then Parliamentary Liaison Officer, before being elected to Parliament.

Angela's political interests include Economic Policy, the NHS, and the politics of sport.

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Charles Henry.

I am delighted to give my support to Allsorts Youth Project and to pay tribute to the work it does.

A few years ago, when I was Shadow Minister for Young People, I visited Allsorts to gain a better understanding of the issues facing LGB young people. The stories of homophobic abuse, which I heard, made me determined to do what I could as a politician to address them - it could not be right in the 21st Century that such abuse could be so commonplace.

The result was a Summit in the Houses of Parliament, when we brought together 100 representatives of voluntary organisations working with LGB young people from across the country to discuss the issues of bullying, health and general support for the voluntary sector. At the time, nothing like it had been done before and it created quite a stir - it says a lot about how far our society has moved since then, that noone would bat an eyelid today about politicians addressing such issues.

Since then of course we have had the Civil Partnership legislation and laws to stop discrimination and the world has changed greatly, but Allsorts deserves its piece of history for the contribution it made - and its young people and youth leaders, in particular, made - to having the issues which LGBT young people face day-by-day taken more seriously by politicians.

Having had the chance to meet up again with Allsorts volunteers again recently, I am delighted to know that, for so many young people in Brighton & Hove, Allsorts continues to provide a source of support and haven of safety and security. We owe a great debt of gratitude to all those who make this possible.