England: Staffordshire town celebrates LGBTQ+ pride despite funding issues

Wednesday, September 4, 2024 

The town of Hednesford, Staffordshire, England is set to host a pride event this coming Saturday as part of the town's monthly street market. The event, dubbed "Mini Chase Pride" in materials published by the organisers, has been set up to provide an LGBTQ+ space for the town after the Chase Pride planned for the end of August was cancelled due to issues with rising costs and "changes in Government legislation".

Local group The Friends of Hednesford Park outfitted the town centre with a variety of LGBTQ+ imagery, including pride flags, a poster for local LGBTQ+ charity SAGE, and a banner reading Chase Pride and adorned with deer, an important local symbol featured on the logo of Cannock Chase district. The display was jointly funded by Hednesford Town Council (via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund) and the Council of Queers.

In a Facebook comment, the group said it planned to host a "family craft workshop" to support the event and the market.

On the day the event was originally scheduled to be held, local MP Josh Newbury posted a video to Facebook in which he praised The Friends of Hednesford Park for their pride decorations and celebrated the planned mini-pride. He shared his own experience as the constituency's "first out LGBT MP", saying "there was a time when I wished I wasn't gay, that I could just fit in, but through things like pride we realise that accepting yourself and being able to openly be who you are is the only way to live life to its fullest".

Chase Pride's operations director Aiden Bowden spoke with Wikinews reporter Ash Thawley via email about the goals and challenges of Chase Pride.

((Wikinews)) Why was Chase Pride's scheduled event cancelled this year?

((Aiden Bowden)) The operating costs of Chase Pride are astronomical and grow year on year, the current state of the economy hasn’t helped things, 50% of the production costs of Chase Pride are normally covered by Grants and Corporate Sponsorship, however these become harder to secure.

((WN)) The announcement post on Instagram says "we didn't think of it ourselves". Who thought of this idea and what was the planning like to make it into a reality?

((Aiden Bowden)) We regularly engage with our community, Chase Pride isn’t just about a party once a year, it is about promoting diversity and championing inclusivity 365 days a year, we were inspired by a comment that went along the lines of ‘just because there isn’t a pride it doesn’t mean we can’t all meet in the park ourselves!’ It was at this point that we knew we just had to do something, leaving us just 8 days to throw something together. This is not going to be a grand affair, this is going to be small, low key, think traditional pride, a safe space for a day.

((WN)) More broadly, what is the story of Chase Pride? Whose idea was it to host a pride festival in the Cannock Chase area to begin with, and what what were the goals of the event?

((Aiden Bowden)) Chase Pride is the brain child of Kathryn Downs, a local transwoman who[se] experiences saw her wanting future generations to have an easier time coming out and/or transitioning in Cannock Chase. Having encountered significant hate and prejudice on her own journey, Kathryn felt more needed to be done to make Cannock Chase a welcoming place to live for the LGBTQ+ community.

The idea soon took root on social media, with more than 50 people joining a Facebook group to discuss the possibility of bringing a Pride to the area. Following a rather cosy yet productive first meeting of the group in Kathryn's kitchen, Chase Pride was born with the aim of running a pride and other related events to celebrate LGBTQ+ culture and history, foster community cohesion through education, to signpost the community to help, support and advice, and to create a safe space where people could be themselves without fear of encountering hated or prejudice.

((WN)) Does the planned "mini-pride" at Hednesford Market share these same goals?

((Aiden Bowden)) Pride means something different to each and every single person, some enjoy being able to relax in a safe environment around fellow people, others like to reminisce on times gone by whilst thanking our forefathers for the fights they fought leading us to where we are today, there Is still an ever increasing need to fight for further equality to eradicate discrimination.

((WN)) What are the limitations of not having a dedicated space for the event? Are there any advantages?

((Aiden Bowden)) Clearly with having a limited timescale to put this event together there are several obstacles to overcome, some of which will still be in existence until we start welcoming people. The team at Hednesford Street Market have been absolutely amazing in affording us a space to utilise to hold this mini event, of course our capacity is very limited, we wont be able to hold the big numbers we have in previous years, but if only one person benefits from the event then it will all be worthwhile.

((WN)) This event will be free to attend. Are there any sources of revenue planned to make the event sustainable, or will it operate with outside funding?

((Aiden Bowden)) This year[']s event is very low key so the costs of operating are smaller than normal, the event is completely self-funded meaning there has been a lot of begging and borrowing from friends and family to make this happen. So no, at this stage the event is unsustainable, however we are determined to make it happen.

((WN)) Finally, Chase Pride is currently scheduled to be hosted again next year. Have you looked into venues, for example Hednesford Park again or maybe somewhere else?

((Aiden Bowden)) The planning of Chase Pride is a mammoth task, and all options are explored in great detail, legislation is continually changing so producing an event has many hurdles, to ensure logistical and operational challenges can be overcome we ensure a robust plan is in place covering all eventualities. The best way to keep up to date is by following our socials!