Stroud Pride is celebrating after being awarded £4,760 in National Lottery funding to support its work for the local LGBTQ+ community.
Stroud Pride will use the money to hold its annual Stroud Pride Picnics in June 2024 and 2025, with regular events throughout the year for LGBTQ+ people.
Stroud Pride has been running since 2018 and is entirely volunteer-run. It was founded to celebrate Stroud’s acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community, making Stroud a beacon of acceptance and tolerance, ensuring Stroud is a town where everyone can feel safe and proud to be themselves.
Stroud Pride holds an annual free Pride Picnic in Stroud’s Bank Gardens, with this year’s picnic on Saturday 22 June from 12-5pm, which will include craft stalls, a treasure hunt, music and performances. The group also runs Trans Stars, a support group for all trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse people in Stroud and nearby, who meet monthly for socialising and crafting.
The new funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, which distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes and is the largest community funder in the UK, will see Stroud Pride hold more regular events at LGBTQ+-friendly businesses. Stroud Pride welcomes inquiries from businesses who would like to host an event to get in touch on stroudpride@gmail.com. The LGBTQ+ community is encouraged to follow Stroud Pride’s social media to find out about these events.
Craig Johnson, Co-Chair of Stroud Pride said: “I launched Stroud Pride as an
organisation 6 years ago and could not be prouder of the success and overwhelming kindness of the Stroud community in supporting its LGBTQ+ community. This grant has enabled us to continue the work we do in these financially difficult times. The committee will be working very hard with other organisations in Stroud to continue to provide safe spaces and events for the LGBTQ+ community as well as supporting the wider community to be ever more increasingly inclusive to shine the positive light of love and acceptance to
those beyond Stroud.”
Michael Jones, Co-Chair of Stroud Pride said: “We’re delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work in this way. Now, thanks to National Lottery players, we will be able to provide regular events for the LGBTQ+ community in Stroud, and bring our whole community together in celebration of diversity. This is important because it helps to increase acceptance of LGBTQ+ people, reduce crime against LGBTQ+ people and improve our community’s understanding and awareness the LGBTQ+ community.”
The National Lottery Community Fund recently launched its new strategy, ‘It starts with community’, which will underpin its efforts to distribute at least £4 billion of National Lottery funding by 2030.
As part of this, the funder has four key missions, which are to support communities to come together, be environmentally sustainable, help children and young people thrive and enable people to live healthier lives.
National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year The National Lottery Community Fund was able to distribute over half a billion pounds (£615.4 million) of life-changing funding to communities. To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk
