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Barclays becomes headline sponsor of this year’s Pride in London

Besi Besemar May 16, 2014

Barclays has signed up to be the headline sponsor of this year’s annual Pride festival held in the capital to champion the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.

London Pride

The agreement makes Barclays, which was again named as one of the best employers in Britain for LGBT people in this year’s Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, one of the biggest supporters of Pride in London, alongside the Mayor of London who last year confirmed major funding to support the Pride celebrations over five years. As headline sponsor Barclays will play a central role for the third year running and triple its investment in the event.

Pride in London is a week-long festival celebrating all aspects of the LGBT community that takes place in the capital from June 22-29, with the central London parade, festival in Trafalgar Square and activities in Soho taking place on Saturday, June 28. It is one of the largest annual events held in London along with the London Marathon and New Year Fireworks, and regularly attracts nearly a quarter of a million people.

The theme of this year’s event is ‘Freedom to…’, celebrating the freedom that Londoners have fought for, enjoy, and continue to campaign for.  It will also coincide with the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York which led to the establishment of the gay liberation movement and the modern day fight for gay and lesbian rights.

This year will also see Pride in London’s first ever advertising campaign, which is set to run across London Underground and London Buses in the two weeks up to and throughout Pride Week. The campaign will highlight the diversity of the LGBT community and encourage real-time interaction in the run-up to the event in June, offering members of the public the chance to appear within the campaign.

Barclays has been a close partner of Pride in London for three years but for the first time this year will become headline sponsor. To mark the sponsorship, Barclays is set to turn a number of its cash machines along the route of the Pride parade into ‘GAYTMs’ (Gay ATMS) and introduce ‘Ping for Pride’ allowing anyone with a bank account to donate to Pride in London via the Pingit payment app.

Event-goers will also be invited to apply for contactless Barclaycard ‘paybands’ in advance of the festival, which they’ll be able to use on the day to pay for drinks and food more easily, safer, simpler and quicker than with cash.

Val Soranno Keating, Barclays’ Global LGBT lead and CEO of Barclaycard, said: “I’m enormously proud that for the third year in succession Barclays is supporting Pride in London, this time as headline sponsor. It’s the highlight of the LGBT calendar and a true celebration of the power and importance of diversity.

“It was 45 years ago this year that the fight for LGBT rights was born in New York. Back then it was a fight for recognition and against suppression, and whilst a huge amount has changed since then there is still much work to do in bringing about further cultural changes and challenging the status quo.

“Encouraging greater diversity within organisations is an essential driver of long-term, sustainable success and at Barclays we work hard to create a culture that enables colleagues, customers and clients to express who they are. We have a strong track record in promoting the LGBT agenda and our sponsorship of this year’s event shows just how important equality and diversity are to us.”

Michael SalterMichael Salter, Chair for Pride in London, said: “Pride in London has become one of the city’s largest annual events, boasting reported levels of consumer satisfaction equal only to the Olympic and Paralympic Games – higher than any other event supported by the Major of London – and it’s fantastic that Barclay’s are supporting the event for the third year in a row.

 

“The theme of this year’s event – “Freedom to…” allows people to really personalise how they choose to engage with the campaign, enabling them to highlight why freedom is important to them; Whether it’s freedom to campaign for international rights, freedom to continue changing attitudes in the UK, or simply just the freedom to kiss their partner goodbye at a bus stop without the need to self-censor.

“In 2013 we saw record numbers of supporters taking part in Pride – not just from London’s own LGBT community in the city, but with people joining from all over the UK who came to the capital to celebrate our nation’s diversity.  Research has shown that LGBT people are more inclined (52%[1]) to spend with companies that they know to be supportive of their community. And with our new advertising campaign, a week of live events culminating with the Pride Parade, entertainment in Trafalgar Square and Soho street parties, Pride in London offers companies a truly unique opportunity to secure incredibly strong brand presence and shows backing for diversity and equality to an audience of potentially millions of consumers.”

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson,
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson,

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson added: “I am delighted to once again be supporting the Pride in London celebrations and, in the year that marriage equality came into force, committed to London remaining at the forefront of LGBT issues. With our city’s Pride celebrations attracting huge crowds and people coming from across the UK and beyond, I am that thrilled that it is now attracting major corporate backers. I look forward to this year’s festivities building on the success of last year and hope that many more companies will come on board for one of the biggest and best events in London’s cultural calendar.”

 

 

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