I’m the Press and Social Media Officer at The Lesbian & Gay Foundation (The LGF), which is a charity that provides a wide-range of support and services for lesbian, gay and bisexual people (LGB). This year, I organised our entry and volunteers for the Manchester Day Parade, took part in the crafting workshops to make the float and walked the parade route on the day.
The theme for this year’s parade was going global so The LGF’s volunteers worked hard to create a series of globes representing lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGB&T) friendly cities from all over the world, complete with rainbow Saturn rings!
Volunteers and staff from The LGF walked the parade in their bright pink ‘We’re here if you need us’ t-shirts alongside a vibrantly decorated float structure, depicting a giant globe to represent Manchester, including some famous landmarks from the city and some smaller globes representing Amsterdam, San Francisco, Sydney and Barcelona.
I have to admit, I'm not a very artsy-type person so I really wasn't too sure what to expect and how I was going to find the craft workshop when we worked on the float, but it actually turned out to be an enjoyable day for everyone. I also got to use a tag gun (like the tags you get on clothing) for the first time and it was really fun to use. Fortunately, you really didn't need any previous experience to get involved!
Community groups and organisations from across the North West got involved with the parade, which according to Manchester City Council, saw over 200,000 visitors - the biggest the event’s ever been! The sun was shining and the atmosphere was electric as everyone got into the festive mood!
During the parade walk, I was busily coordinating the volunteers to check they were all ok, tweeting from The LGF’s Twitter account, taking photos and shooting videos! As a result there are lots of images from the parade of me looking at my iPhone and quite honestly, looking plain rude like I was disinterested! I really wasn’t - I was just trying to do my job, but at least you know now!
What they don't tell you about the unglamorous side of parading is that if you have a float then you have to push it back up the parade route afterwards! I was absolutely exhausted! Admittedly, I also found out that every year of the parade before this, we had a walking entry so this year was the first time we had a float to look after!
Although it might not seem like a big deal to join in with the parade, I've spoken to people who have been a bit nervous about walking the parade with The LGF and coming out so publicly. They were concerned because some of their old friends might see them and not know that they are LGB. Sadly, these sorts of feelings are all too common in the LGB community and taking part in a community activity such as the parade can help individuals feel empowered and comfortable with who they are and who they choose to love, whether that person is of the same-sex or not.
Having the opportunity to interact, engage and work with volunteers was the best part of this experience. I really enjoyed the process from having initial contact with volunteers by email and meeting them at the arts workshop to seeing them walk the parade in their pink LGF t-shirts! It was fantastic to see their faces painted with rainbow flags and enjoying the day! They enjoyed the day so much that they’ve decided to volunteer with The LGF for the Manchester Pride march in August this year, which is an amazing outcome. I also found it really satisfying to share with them the same feeling of seeing the resulting float in the parade and thinking I helped to make that... I helped to decorate that rainbow coloured Saturn ring!
I was also delighted to find that The LGF received press coverage on the BBC Breakfast News and in the Manchester Evening News. Funnily enough, it was originally my line Manager who was responsible for coordinating this event, but I got the opportunity to pick this up and take the lead on it. Ultimately, after all the work and enthusiasm (which came pretty easily to be honest) that I put into organising this, I'm really pleased that I got the opportunity to gain such valuable experience. Also it will look brilliant on my CV!