Thank you Wokingham!
What a fantastic day we had for Wokingham Pride on Saturday July 13.
Local bands played for free, over 30 stallholders turned up (including PepsiCo who kept us supplied with free snacks all day) and residents enjoyed a picnic in the sunshine.
We couldn’t have done it without the help of dozens of local residents and organisations. Wokingham Town Council let us use Elms Field and made a generous grant; donors included Wokingham Lions, Thales, the Equality Forum and Twyford Parish Council; and residents helped out with marshalling, litter picking, and the year long process of organising the event. We have a special thank you this year for Involve, the local organisation which supports our voluntary and community sector, as they helped us to gain Registered Charity status.
There’s always a serious side to Pride. 10 years ago, the UK was ranked the most LGBT friendly country in Europe. In the decade since then we’ve plummeted to a miserable 16th place. Hate crimes against LGBT people have more than doubled in the past five years alone.
Wokingham residents showed on Saturday that they want our Borough to be an equal and inclusive community. We all have a part to play in that. And we particularly call on all of our newly elected MPs and local councillors to play their part, so that the UK can once again take its place as a country which is a world leader for LGBT rights.
The Wokingham Pride Team
