in the news
from April 2007

The Wakefield Pride not Prejudice group - organisers of Wakefield Pride - have been granted the Duke of York's Community Initiative Award for 2007, the first time the award has been granted to a gay Pride organising committee. The award will be presented to the group by HRH Prince Andrew Duke of York at a ceremony later in the year.

In January 1998 HRH the Duke of York presented the first Community Initiative Awards to ten schemes, from different parts of the region, run by their local communities. The awards not only recognise the considerable achievement of these projects to date, but also act as a springboard for expansion of these and similar schemes in the future.

‘The Wakefield Pride not Prejudice group have been granted the award for our efforts to try and bring different cultures together in the hope of creating a more tolerant and cohesive society,’ they say. ‘It is our principal aim, which we hope we will achieve through organising a Pride event, to celebrate our diversity and inviting other cultures and opinions to join us for a free celebration. We are trying to create an atmosphere of tolerance and respect for each other that will benefit the younger generations. We do it for free, we don’t charge admission and we don’t put up fences that stop the general public getting into our space. If the local businesses do well as a result of an influx of visitors then it all adds to the local economy and does Wakefield no harm and we welcome that.’

‘That is what our Pride event represents to us and it is why we were given the award and are held up in local government circles as a model of best practice.’

Wakefield held its first Pride event in 2005 and following its success the group adopted a formal constitution prior to organising Pride 2006. The group is made up of representatives of the gay community, the West Yorkshire Police Authority, Wakefield District Council, the Primary Care Trust and local businesses

‘We would welcome greater involvement from all sections of the community,’ they say. ‘The Pride five-a-side football tournament is open to any team, and a number of public houses have already expressed an interest in competing for the much-coveted trophy which will be presented to the winning team by the mayor at the Pride event.’

The group are organising this year’s event which will be held in the precinct in Wakefield on Sunday 12th August 2007.

‘We would like to see greater involvement of local business and agencies,’ they add, ‘and any offer of sponsorship will be gratefully received.’

Please contact the Cohesion team at Wakefield Town Hall on 01924 306090 for details.