BHF comment
British Heart Foundation joins Pride parades across the UK
Our colleagues and volunteers will celebrate the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community by joining Pride parades across the UK.
We have secured over 200 spaces to take part in seven parades across all four nations of the UK this summer.
Colleagues and volunteers kicked off the celebrations at Edinburgh Pride on 25th June and will join Pride in London this weekend (2nd July).
They will also join events in Belfast, Brighton, Cardiff, Manchester and Birmingham held over the next two months.
Several of our shops and stores across the UK have also shown their support by decorating their windows and outdoor signage during Pride Month.
Support for Pride
Our support for Pride comes as part of a programme of activities to support the LGBTQ+ community, through the launch of an affinity group.
The group gives our LGBTQ+ colleagues and volunteers a dedicated safe space for discussion and empowers them to provide input and insight into workplace decisions.
A panel discussion involving the charity Mermaids has also been held to help colleagues deepen their knowledge of the transgender and non-binary community.
The work of the affinity group is underpinned by our recent equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) strategy, which aims to ignite change for its colleagues and volunteers, the research community and for the millions of people living with heart and circulatory diseases. This commits to ensuring equality and diversity runs through every strand of work we do.
Igniting change
Gareth Campbell-Julian, chair of our LGBTQ+ affinity group, said: “We’ve had an overwhelming response from BHF colleagues and volunteers to join this year’s Pride parades and can’t wait to step out and support events across the UK this summer.
“The launch of our LGBTQ+ affinity group is helping to deepen our understanding of issues affecting the community. We are particularly creating a real connection with our transgender community within the BHF, forming a programme of activity that builds knowledge for everyone they work with.
“Our work also supports the BHF’s wider strategy to ignite change and tackle inequalities, helping the BHF to become a more inclusive organisation.”