Pride St. Charles’ Post

Navigating Pride Month and participating in celebrations without incurring significant costs can be challenging, especially in a landscape where corporate interests often dominate. However, there are numerous ways to engage in Pride that focus on community, visibility, and inclusivity without a hefty price tag. Here are some suggestions: 1. Attend Free Events Many cities host free Pride events, including parades, festivals, and community gatherings. Look for local LGBTQ+ organizations or community centers that may offer free or low-cost events. 2. Volunteer Volunteering at Pride events is a great way to participate without spending money. It can also provide a sense of fulfillment and connection to the community. 3. DIY Pride Gear Instead of purchasing expensive Pride merchandise, consider making your own. You can create T-shirts, signs, and flags using inexpensive materials. Thrift stores often have plain clothing that can be customized with fabric paint or markers. 4. Participate in Online Communities If attending in-person events is not feasible, engaging with online communities can be a powerful way to connect with others. Many organizations host virtual events, discussions, and support groups that are free to join. 5. Join or Start Local Support Groups Small, local groups often meet in public spaces or homes, reducing costs. These groups can be a great way to find support and community year-round, not just during Pride Month. 6. Engage in Activism Visibility can also come from activism. Participate in or organize protests, awareness campaigns, or educational events. These activities can often be done with minimal financial investment and can have a significant impact. 7. Utilize Public Spaces Parks, libraries, and community centers often provide free or low-cost venues for gatherings. Organize a picnic, a reading group, or an art display in these spaces to celebrate Pride. 8. Support Mutual Aid Networks Some communities have mutual aid networks that help redistribute resources among members. These networks can provide assistance with food, transportation, and other needs, allowing everyone to participate in celebrations more fully. 9. Educate and Advocate Education and advocacy can be powerful tools. Host free workshops, discussions, or film screenings to educate others about LGBTQ+ history and issues. This can be done in schools, community centers, or even online. 10. Seek Out Inclusive Spaces Look for inclusive spaces that do not require spending money. Many community centers, churches, and nonprofit organizations offer free services and events for the LGBTQ+ community. 11. Collaborate with Allies Allies can play a crucial role in supporting LGBTQ+ visibility. Collaborate with friends and family who are allies to create inclusive, cost-effective events or to share resources.

Language and communication is so important when it comes to inclusion. Ensuring that our language is inclusive, and backing that up with actions, goes a long way to reducing barriers, especially when it comes to recruiting volunteers. Pick up tips on how your language can help people from the global majority population feel that they are truly welcome as volunteers in your organisation, in this blog. ⬇️ #NationalInclusionWeek NCVO #TimeWellSpent

Community moderation can be a great model— it allows for many different perspectives and styles of moderation and distributes power away from one central authority. BUT: Moderation is hard! It’s easy to see why volunteers can burn out, quit, and abdicate their responsibility. They’re not tapped into the 25 years of professional lessons we’ve learned in trust & safety. This week for Everything in Moderation I wrote about the downfall of Aegis, a community moderation volunteer collective with the goal of protecting the lgbtq+ community— an important, but difficult mission. The central issue at hand? How to moderate allegations of seriously harmful offline conduct. 👉 https://lnkd.in/e2d5bc8f

As community development practitioners, it’s imperative to champion sustainability and scalability while ensuring inclusivity and diversity. Sustainable initiatives create lasting impact, while scalability enables widespread change. It’s crucial to provide opportunities for minorities and underrepresented groups, including women, to actively participate in shaping their communities’ future. Moreover, amplifying the voices of those impacted by development ensures initiatives truly meet their needs. Let’s not fear change but embrace it as an opportunity for growth and innovation. Together, let’s build resilient, inclusive, and vibrant communities where everyone has a seat at the table. #CommunityDevelopment #Inclusion #Sustainability

It's a little later than usual, thanks to half term, but if you're looking for reactive PR inspo, great events to get involved with or need to update your internal comms calendar then look no further... 🗳 The upcoming election holds opportunities across sectors. If you have something to say and you're willing to be bold, then there are lots of ways to engage local, trade and national press with a reaction or opinion on a policy promise. 🏳️🌈 Pride Month, June: It should go without saying that changing everything to rainbow colours is not really supporting the LGBTQ+ community. If in doubt, ask those within your organisation that your words will impact, who can give you a sense check. 🍖 National BBQ Week, 1-9 June 🧀 National Cheese Day, 4 June 🌍 Earth Day, 5 June 🚲 Bike Week, 10-16 June 🤖 London Tech Week, 10-14 June 👨🏼 Father's Day, 16 June 🕌 Eid-ul-Adha, 16-18 June ⛺ World Refugee Week, 17-23 June 🎶 World Music Day, 21 June 👖 Wrong Trousers Day, 28 June - a special local mention for the Wallace & Gromit's Grand Appeal, raising much-needed money for the Bristol Children's Hospital and Neonatal Intensive Care unit. 👩🏼🔧 Women in Engineering Day, 23 June If you're planning a fun story, pithy comment or great internal initiative to align to an upcoming day, it can be a quick win but it is also competitive out there. So, be clear, concise and always authentic for your comms to have value.

We began this project to develop a new park vision and improvement plan for Barbara Hall Park at the beginning of 2023. The park is the central gathering place of the Gay Village and is the home of the AIDS and Trans Memorials. It's also heavily used by vulnerable folks who are there to access the services of the 519. The new plan is needed because the park is currently struggling to play all of these roles successfully. It's been a challenging project, given the complex stakeholder landscape and varying needs of the community, but it's one that I feel a strong connection to and we've worked really hard to try to get things right. Our team categorized this as a Collaborate project according to the IAP2's Public Participation Spectrum, which means our objective is to co-create the plan and all of its elements with the community. We started by engaging select community stakeholders to develop a series of Drivers of Change, which are the issues that everyone agrees are driving the need for change in the park. Then, we did extensive engagement with the community, including through a Community Advisory Committee, an online ThoughtExchange, community workshop, outreach with the park's vulnerable population, focus groups and workshops with the HIV/AIDS community, and consultation with the Trans Women's Association that stewards the Trans Memorial, to develop a vision, design principles, and big moves to guide the design of the park. Once our design team is hired in the next few months, we'll hold a design charrette to start to imagine how all of these elements might come together from a design perspective. This survey is meant to close the loop on the first phase of engagement by sharing the outcomes of all this work and checking the temperature with the wider community to ensure we're on the right track. We also want to understand where the community's highest priorities are in case trade-offs need to be made later on. So, if you live in the Church-Wellesley Village or you are someone who sees themselves as a Barbara Hall Park stakeholder, please consider taking a few minutes to take the survey, or just check out the webpage to learn about this exciting and important project.

This week on “Sincerely, Queers” — how to Queer your board! This five minute read dives into the who, what, where, when, why, and how of recruiting #LGBTQIA+ people to your majority straight #board. Read here: https://lnkd.in/g_nRYBnv

Corporations can't just show up for the parades. We need genuine allies who are committed to being an accomplice in our collective liberation. It's great to see Pride London take a stance against rainbow washing. Queer people need genuine allies, not just clever marketing campaigns. Pride in London is one of the U.K’s largest LGBTQ2s+ festivals, attracting 1.5 million people to the city each June with 30,000 participating in the parade itself. But in 2024, brands will have to walk the walk at a corporate level if they want to march the march. In a bid to weed out rainbow washing or pink washing—the practice of using the LGBTQ2s+ community to boost PR and sales without demonstrating meaningful allyship—the nonprofit is requesting advertisers that want to join the celebration to engage with related causes year-round and take real action to foster inclusion in their workplaces. Organizers have launched Pride in the City, a 356-day partner program for brands that want to join the capital’s vibrant yearly procession. If sponsors commit just over $8,500 (7,000 pounds), they will reserve a spot in the flotilla while also receiving training on topics including how to make trans and nonbinary colleagues feel more welcome in the office, and on creating an inclusive workplace for LGBTQ2s+ employees. More at adweek.com 🏳️🌈

Donor acquisitioning but make it ✨Queer✨ This week’s “Sincerely, Queers” blog highlights five tips you can apply to your acquisition efforts right now in order to find LGBTQIA+ donors. 5-minute read here: https://lnkd.in/e8djf-ja #LGBT #LGBTQ #LGBTDonors #Acquisition #Donors #Nonprofit #QueerForHire #Fundraising

🌈 JUNE NEWSLETTER IS OUT NOW 🌈 Join us in celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community! Our latest newsletter dives into Pride and highlights all the amazing things we accomplished in May—workshops, outreach, and advocacy. Together, we’re making a world where everyone feels safe, valued, and empowered. & Here’s why you should subscribe to #SAFENEWS 💜 Get the Scoop: Always be in the loop with the latest news and info that matters to SAFE. Think updates on laws, cool resources, and helpful tips. 💜 Heads Up on Events: Get the lowdown on cool events like workshops, speaking engagements and events. Perfect for learning new stuff and meeting people. 💜 Make a Difference: Hear about neat ways to get involved. Whether it’s volunteering, spreading the word, or other cool projects, you can really make an impact. 💜 Learn Lots: Expect awesome articles, interviews, and real-life stories that teach you a ton about what it’s like for survivors and how to help. 💜 Feel the Power: Regular doses of empowerment and inspiration to keep your spirits high and your motivation strong. Ready to enlighten your inbox? Subscribe to the SAFE Newsletter via the link in our bio. Or, if you’re eager to get started, the current issue is available for reading right now. Just follow the link in our bio to access. https://acesse.dev/XhYNN