Portsmouth Pride has been awarded £10,000 by the Big Lottery Fund, which will support the Pride Variety Show on Southsea Common, and street parade in Commercial Road, on Saturday, June 20.
“This is fantastic news,” said Portsmouth Pride Chair, David Lee-Bastable. “The costs of putting on a safe event like this are challenging, but we have been overwhelmed by the support shown by local businesses and organisations, and now this generous grant from the Lottery.”
“We’re especially grateful to the Grosvenor Casino, Spinnaker Tower, WightLink, and local unions such as GMB, Unison and Unite, for helping us get Pride off the ground.
“Pride is open to everyone, and is an opportunity to promote the ideals of equality and diversity in the Portsmouth area and beyond.”
There are two main elements to Portsmouth Pride this year.
The first is a family-friendly parade leaving Guildhall Square at noon, which will include many local groups, including Scouts, gay Christians, trades unions, and a Cavalcade of LGBT Characters Through History created by the Groundlings Theatre.
Head Steward Linda, said: “We hope that everyone will come along with flags and whistles to join the fun, we have special web pages which contain loads of creative craft ideas for making flags, rainbow bracelets, shirts, and souvenirs which will are suitable for all ages.”
The second is the Portsmouth Pride Variety Show on Southsea Common, which will include entertainment on a main stage, local acts on the acoustic stage, community and information stalls, and a chance to meet up with friends, old and new.
David, said: “We’re encouraging everyone to ‘Send Us A Selfie’.”
“Just post a picture of you and your friends with a rainbow, and we’ll be using the pictures in a video on our web site Facebook page, www.PortsmouthPride.co.uk.”
The Big Lottery Fund supports the aspirations of people who want to make life better for their communities across the UK. They are responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery and invest over £650 million a year in projects big and small in health, education, environment and charitable purposes.
Since June 2004 they have awarded over £6.5billion to projects that make a difference to people and communities in need, from early years intervention to commemorative travel funding for World War Two veterans.
Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £33 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.
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