On 6 July, more than 600 groups comprising of 30,000+ people joined forces, celebrating the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Allies (LGBTQIA+) community for London’s Jubilee Pride parade.
Marking the 50th year since the historic Stonewall Inn riots, London’s Pride parade 2019 has been counted as the largest to date, with almost 1.5 million visitors turning up to show their support.
This year, members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community from within facilities management joined forces from multiple organisations, including facilities service providers ISS, Sodexo and built environment PR specialist Magenta Associates. Sponsored by Pareto FM & Boden Resource, the LGBT+ in FM group joined forces with the numerous organisations to march as a group almost 150-strong. The assembly of LGBTQ+ community members and allies took to the streets of central London to share its message – that the FM sector is an inclusive and welcoming environment, and people are safe to be whoever they want to be in this sector.
Pareto FM Managing Director, Andrew Hulbert, said: “It was important to the DNA of our business that we were there and represented. This is who we are and what we do. We have a totally inclusive culture whereby people can represent themselves as they wish and truly bring their whole selves to work. We will come back bigger and better next year and continue to support the LGBT+ in FM group wholeheartedly.”
Colin Kimber, Associate Director at Pareto FM and co-organiser of the LGBT+ in FM Pride involvement added: “Organising the LGBT+ in FM Pride marching group has been one of my highlights of 2019. The sense of responsibility in making sure we were well represented, both personally and visually, was intense and challenging.
“I think we did extremely well and the team that pulled everything together did a fantastic job. It was essential that we represented our industry in a strong, clear and bold manner for our Pride debut.”
https://www.fmj.co.uk/lgbt-in-fm-marches-with-pride/
