Swansea Pride
| Swansea Pride | |
|---|---|
| http://www.swanseapride.com | |
Swansea Pride is the annual South West Wales LGBT festival which is held in Swansea, Wales.
2008 - Early days
In 2008 a group of local LGBT people organised themselves after discussing their mutual ambition to organise an outdoor Pride event in Swansea, Wales's second city. The organisers included the people behind local social media website, Gayswansea.com.
There were no professional event organisers on the initial committee and the event was put together entirely by volunteers. Pink in the Park, the first event, took place on the Lacrosse Field, Singleton Park on the 28 June 2009.[1]
The event was, in spite of doubts and trepidation, a resounding success,[2] where Kelly Llorenna, Scooch and local entertainers entertained the crowd. The festival was also used as a way to raise money and awareness for the HIV and AIDS charity, Terrence Higgins Trust.
2011 - Becoming a registered charity
Emboldened by their success, and following the second Swansea Pride event in 2010, the events volunteers decided to constitute as a registered charity. The decision to become a charity was made to publicly demonstrate that Swansea Pride is a not-for-profit event run by volunteers for the benefit of the local LGBT community, their friends and families.
2013 - Charity name change
In 2013 the charity changed its name to Spectrum South West Wales while keeping the name Swansea Pride exclusively for the event. The reason for the name change was to allow the charity to undertake other events and activities for and on behalf of the local LGBT community.
2015 - Event cancelled
The seventh annual event, Swansea Pride 2015, was cancelled on April 14th 2015[3] Financial difficulties and a lack of volunteers were cited as the reasons the event was cancelled.
2016
On Friday June 19th 2015 a public meeting was held at the charity's office where a public vote decided to start planning and preparation for a Swansea Pride event in 2016. [4] A new contingent of volunteers were recruited to the event Organising Committee & its constituent sub-committees.
Historically, the event was held on the last Saturday in June each year. However, since the relaunch of London Pride the decision was made to move to another date. The date for the 2016 event was scheduled to be 30th April 2016.[5] However the event did not happen.
See also
References
- ^ South Wales Evening Post 25-06-2009. Retrieved 25-06-2009
- ^ South Wales Evening Post 28-06-2009. Retrieved 28-06-2009
- ^ South Wales Evening Post 14-05-2015. Retrieved 22-06-15
- ^ South Wales Evening Post 20-06-15. Retrieved 22-06-15
- ^ South Wales Evening Post 12-07-2015. Retrieved 29-07-2016