The Mayor of London Boris Johnson today confirmed that London LGBT + Community Pride (LLCP) have been selected to run the capital's Pride celebrations.
The announcement follows an invitation by the Mayor for non-profit community based organisations to bid to develop one of the biggest LGBT celebrations in the world. Each summer the parade and festival attract hundreds of thousands of people from across the UK and from overseas and the Mayor is providing funding to secure the event's long-term future.
London LGBT + Community Pride have been offered a grant agreement worth up to £500,000 over five years, to stage the event in 2013 and develop it over five years. Waiving the fee to use Trafalgar Square, plus assistance from a Greater London Authority events officer, will bring the total value of support to around £650,000.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “London's Pride celebrations are one of the biggest and most high profile events in our city's cultural calendar. They are enormously popular and underpin London's status as one of the best cities in the world for LGBT people, who make an enormous contribution to the social and economic life of the capital. With a new partner, strongly rooted in the community, our ambition is to see a successful event that is sustainable in the longer term.”
London LGBT + Community Pride will be announcing more details about its plans for this year's Pride celebrations in due course.
Speaking on behalf of the Board, Michael Salter said: “We're delighted with the support we've already had for our bid from the community but the hard work starts now. We have five months to raise the funding required, finalise plans and make our vision a reality. We've already begun working with community groups and sponsors and now we are looking for motivated individuals to get involved and join the small army of volunteers that are essential to making Pride a roaring success. We are a Community Interest Company, which means any surplus made can only be used to support the event in future years or donated to LGBT+ organisations and we hope this will appeal to potential sponsors.”
Notes to editors
For the latest information from London LGBT+ Community Pride follow us at: www.facebook.com/LondonCommunityPride, on Twitter @LondonLGBTPride or at our website www.londoncommunitypride.org
London LGBT+ Community Pride has a number of key ambitions for London Pride:
- To build a longer term and more diverse festival culminating in a weekend of celebration
- Build a festival encompassing arts, politics, entertainment and sport that showcases both the talent and contribution of the LGBT+ community and the positive impact it has on the Capital
- Build events that can be self-sustaining and make a contribution to the LGBT+ community by providing a platform and resources
- In future years the ambition is to move the event out of the congested streets of Soho and to some of London’s parks
The Board of Directors receive no remuneration for their involvement in London LGBT+ Community Pride CIC.