Canal Street Online Manchester

Another record year for Manchester Pride

Another record year for Manchester Pride

Manchester’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) charity, and organiser of The Manchester Pride Festival, has recently (Friday 25 November, 2015) announced that it has raised £149k for charitable causes in 2016.

The organisation, which fundraises throughout the year via events and initiatives centred around the city’s huge LGBT community, is also putting £25k of unclaimed grants from last year back into the pot meaning that in total £174k will be available for grants in 2017.

Fundraising events include The Manchester Pride Spring Benefit which is held annually in May, Dress Down Day in August and The Big Weekend over August Bank Holiday weekend.  

Highlights of the 2016 festival were Manchester’s first out gay Lord Mayor of Manchester Carl Austin-Behan leading the iconic Manchester Pride Parade on Saturday afternoon and world renowned acts including Katy B, Will Young and Fleur East wowing crowds on the Thomas Cook Airlines USA Main Arena stage. 

Every year grants from the Manchester Pride Community Fund are issued to help a selection of different groups and organisations that support the LGBT people in a huge variety of different ways.  Those awarded grants in 2016 included Rainbow Noir, who’s main objective is to provide a group space for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex people of colour.  

Plus the Oldham Rainbow Association which is run by a group of volunteers with the aim of increasing the well-being and social cohesion of the LGBT community in Oldham with the provision of a calendar of events from coffee mornings to Oldham Pride.

Also in 2016 Manchester Pride's year-round calendar of cultural events, Superbia, promoted events throughout the year.  Over 100 events were highlighted by the charity’s team celebrating the incredible talents of the city’s LGBT people and showcased some of the best international talent in the arts.

Superbia grants were awarded to a number of arts organisations including  the Queer Media Festival which this year took place at HOME. Also Black Gold Arts Festival to enable them to secure the North West premiere of "Strike A Pose” starring Madonna’s ground breaking dancers from her Blond Ambition Tour. 

Also given funding was the LGBT Foundation’s Women's Programme which used the money to set up an Open Mic night - an evening of open mic and cabaret.  Superbia grants are awarded to events that encourage greater social inclusion and stimulate cultural enrichment for the lives of LGBT people. 

Mark Fletcher, Chief Executive for Manchester Pride, said; “I’m really happy to be able to announce that we have raised just under £150k in 2016. 2015 was a big year to follow and to have further grown our fundraising total is huge testament to everybody who supports the charity.

“The Big Weekend was attended by tens of thousands of  people celebrating LGBT life and the Manchester Pride Parade lead by our city’s first openly gay Lord Mayor was something Manchester can be hugely proud of. I’m overwhelmed by the support of our sponsors, the businesses of the Gay Village, the city, visitors to The Big Weekend and my brilliant team.

“Even more importantly we’ve been able to support some really important groups and inject vital funds into LGBT causes with the money we raised in 2015. Our Impact Report which will be released in early 2017 will show the wide reach of the work which Manchester Pride undertakes.”

In 2015 Manchester Pride raised £137k for donation to charitable causes with £9k in unclaimed grants from 2014 being returned to the pot and made available again for LGBT groups and organisations to apply for, taking the overall total to £146k.

The Manchester Pride Festival is an award-winning four-day event celebrating LGBT life. The event takes place in August, with The Big Weekend running from Friday 25 to Monday 28 August and the Parade on Saturday 26 August. Tickets for The Big Weekend will be on sale from late January.

The Manchester Pride Spring Benefit 2017 will be held at The Midland Hotel on Thursday 18th May.  To register your interest please visit springbenefit.manchesterpride.com. 

To find out more about the Manchester Pride you can follow the charity on Twitter @manchesterpride or visit the website at manchesterpride.com. 

Published: 29-Dec-2016: (4053)

Canal-st.co.uk Top Stories

LGBT Walking tours of Manchester

LGBT Walking tours of Manchester

Explore Manchester’s world-famous Gay Village with Josh’s LGBT+ Manchester Walking Tour!

Feedback from the Village Action Forum

Feedback from the Village Action Forum

Members of various stakeholder parties met again recently and here is what resulted moving forward

Pride events and dates for 2024

Pride events and dates for 2024

Save The Date: Greater Manchester Pride Events for 2024

All Wmn 24 launched

All Wmn 24 launched

We share the news of a new community event bringing Women together through live music