Taking Pride in city parade
Sunderland Pride will return for its seventh year to paint the city’s streets with a rainbow of colour.
An annual celebration of Wearside’s LGBT community, which attracts thousands of people, Sunderland Pride will be held on September 24.
As with previous years, it will feature a parade from the Civic Centre, at its Burdon Road entrance, before a day of entertainment in Park Lane.
As well as the parade, the Sunderland Pride Committee. a not-for-profit organisation, has opened its own centre in Bridge Street.
It will be providing dropin sessions, training on aspects of sexual health, life skills and mental health and depression courses.
It will also provide counselling services, HIV testing and support and chlamydia testing and support.
Plans are also in place for a Social Inclusion Programme, which will help people from the LGBT community to encourage wellbeing and employment building skills.
Sunderland Pride’s chairman, Chris Ramsay, said: “There is a need for this type of centre in Sunderland and we have been working long and hard with different organisations to bring something as unique as this to the heart of the city centre.
“We are onto our seventh year as a Pride and have seen many part-time LGBT organisations come into Sunderland and unfortunately close their doors before achieving their goals.
Therefore, this is the only full-time centre in Sunderland of its kind for our community.”
Volunteers for the centre or on the day of Sunderland Pride, can email info@sunderlandpridegroup.co or Tel. 0191 435 1277