London Pride returns as events struggle with falling funds

BBC News

9 hours ago

On Saturday more than one million people are expected to attend Pride in London, the UK's largest LGBTQ+ event.But despite huge visitor numbers, organisers say the event - and others like it around the country - face an uncertain future due to a drop in funding and falling volunteer numbers.More than 85 Pride organisations say they've seen a reduction in corporate sponsorships or partnerships, according to a questionnaire by the UK Pride Organisers Network (UKPON), which said it represents the majority of UK Pride events.Some celebrations have already been cancelled or postponed, while others are scaling back plans or charging for tickets to what have previously been free-to-attend events.
The UK's Pride movement began in 1972 when a group called the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) decided that, as well as protesting, it was also important to celebrate the community.At the time, same-sex couples showing affection in public could have seen them arrested.Now, Pride events take part across the world, often combining protest, in the form of marches and rallies, with parties and live entertainment.BBC News has spoken to a number of Pride organisers about their worries for the future of Pride events, and what they believe is behind the drop in funding.
'If America sneezes, the UK catches a cold'
Dee Llewellyn is volunteer chair of UKPON, and also works full-time as Pride in London's head of partnerships.She believes that, for large-scale celebrations such as in Pride in London, international corporations moving away from Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies is one of the driving forces behind the drop in donations.She said: "There's an old saying, if America sneezes, then the UK catches a cold, and I think we're really feeling that right now."Global corporations, with head offices based in America, have had their DEI funding cut, which has meant that some corporations, even ones that have been really long-standing supporters of Pride in the UK, have no longer got a budget to do so."Despite the difficulties it faces, London continues to be the UK's largest Pride event and over the past few years attendance has grown to 1.5 million people, making it one of the city's largest public events.According to the Pride in London website, the cost of their 2024 event was £1.7m.
Asked why a Pride event - which is seen by many as a form of protest first and foremost - costs this much to run, Dee told the BBC: "It's about making safe spaces, not just emotionally safe but physically safe for everybody there as well - it means paying for security staff, barriers, road closures."As Pride grows, and the numbers grow, the cost and the level of health and safety and other infrastructure grows as well. No Pride would be able to go ahead without meeting those health and safety regulations."Although the focus this weekend will be very much on the capital, UKPON told the BBC that Pride events up and down the country are facing similar issues.In April UKPON asked its 201 members whether they were facing any financial or operational pressures.Of the 112 organisations that responded:More than 85 reported lost revenue from corporate sponsorships and partnerships this yearMore than 40 said that the drop was between 26% - 50% compared to last year21 said they'd experienced their revenue fall by more than half in that same periodMore than 60 said they'd seen reductions in grants from corporations or charitiesIn recent weeks, several Pride organisations have taken the decision to cancel events.Liverpool City Region Pride announced in June that rising costs and difficulty securing funding "made it impossible to bring Pride to Liverpool this year".Another charity has since stepped in to organise an alternative event.
'I'm absolutely gutted'
Plymouth Pride, which organisers say usually has an estimated 6,000-7,000 attendees, will this year also not go ahead in its official capacity.Organisers told the BBC they were £12,000 short of the estimated £35,000 it costs to put on their annual event, which includes a march through the city and a number of stages showing entertainment.Alex MacDonald, chair of Plymouth Pride, told the BBC that rising costs for things like security, first aid and toilet facilities, combined with a drop in grant funding, had left the organisation with no choice but to cancel the official event.He said: "Ultimately it was [grant] funding that was the make or break for us and this year it didn't work."I'm just absolutely gutted because I think it's more important this year to have Pride than any other year."A smaller group, Plymouth Community Pride, has now raised funds to host an alternative event in the city."We've been very lucky this year, the community rallied together and a separate organisation is putting on lots of little events. We'll hopefully come back bigger and stronger next year," Alex added.
Charging for tickets is 'one of the most difficult decisions'
In June, more than 6,000 people attended The Pink Picnic, an event organised by a team of volunteers from Salford Pride in the city's Peel Park.Started in 2011, it's marketed by organisers as a small, community-focused Pride event and is seen as a quieter alternative to Manchester Pride, a ticketed multi-day event with celebrity headliners which takes place a few miles down the road.In 2025, Salford Pride took the decision to charge for tickets for the first time in order to plug what they say was a £40,000 shortfall in sponsorships from corporate partners.The team, made up entirely of volunteers, decided to charge £5 per ticket, but estimate that the event costs around £18 per head.Reece Holmes, event lead for Salford Pride, said it was "one of the most difficult decisions" his team of volunteers have had to make and that it led to some "being subjected to quite a lot of abuse online."Despite The Pink Picnic being a relatively small event, costs such as security and stewards - which Reece said are essential to run a public event - mean it costs around £100,000 a year to run.He told the BBC: "We've had a 28% increase in costs from 2024, but we've also lost three corporate sponsors since then.
"It's a mixture of economic issues and I think the political climate at the minute, I think [companies] are a little bit scared to support Prides."Reece said that without charging for tickets to cover some of the costs, the event would not have been able to go ahead."We're being forced to make these kinds of decisions due to a lack of funding, due to economic issues and due to the political climate."Although many Prides have told the BBC they are struggling financially, and may have to scale back or charge more for events in the future, Dee Llewellyn said there is "no chance" Pride as a movement will stop.She added: "We need to remember that we as a community are incredibly resilient."We have always been resilient and we always will be, so while we might go through this ebb and flow, and we've fallen off a cliff this year with corporate partnerships, we will find ways around that."We are going to club together, stand together and be stronger and more united and we will come back stronger."