TIP-toeing in their finest patent red heels, nearly 50 men strutted their stuff to raise awareness of a good cause.

The LGBT Over the Rainbow centre, currently based at the Triangle, faces possible closure after the lease ran out on the building.

There are ongoing discussions about possibly moving the facilities to Springbourne.

To raise the £27,000 needed in order to keep the facility open at St Michael’s Road for another year, organisers Billy Clarke and Kevin Turner – health advisors at the centre – rallied men to walk the 2.5miles from Boscombe Pier to Bournemouth Pier on Easter Sunday.

“We wanted to come up with a unique way of highlighting this plight and the response has been amazing,” Mr Clarke said.

“If we lose the building the service could dissolve completely.”

The group has also applied for enough cash to enable the service to run for another three years through lottery funding. They should find out if their application has been successful sometime in the next three months.

Mr Turner said: “Everyone has been really supportive. It has been a really good turn out.”