Worcester's First Pride Cancelled - UPDATE 14/09/10

Worcester's first ever gay Pride festival has been cancelled due to insufficient funding.

The announcement was made on Monday 13th September on the Worcester Pride website, saying,

'It is with great sadness that the Worcester Pride Forum wishes to announce a final decision to cancel “Celebration of LGBT Life” which were planned to be held at the Brewery Tap, 50 Lowesmoor, Worcester on 17th through to the 19th September 2010.'

There were several factors leading them to make the hard decision, which can be found here as well as more information on what has happened.

The Worcester Pride Forum and Brewery Tap wish to apologise to all for the sad news and inconvenience it may have caused.

Following much deliberation the Pride organisers have decided to pull plans for the large scale LGBT celebration that was to take place in September as they feared they would not be able to pull off such a big task with the little money they have.

The official Worcester’s Pride site released a statement, which read:

'The project plan for Worcester Pride 2010 has gone through many changes due to the major developments that have occurred in Worcester and in the wider area over the past year.

Due to the recession and a change of government, it has become more apparent that a large-scale event, as was planned for 2010 is not as viable as first hoped. In this new period of austerity, many of the statutory bodies that had pledged support in kind and in funding have now had to withdraw their offers due to cutbacks, and loss of staff within their sector.' 
 

Hereford & Worcestershire Fire and Rescue Service were one of the losses, having withdrawn funding and the offer of marshals on the day. Without the support of Marshalling by the Fire Service the forum were unsure if it would still be able to provide the level of Health and Safety cover required.

Not only that, it also became apparent that there was less support than anticipated from other statutory organisations, with a growing unwillingness to engage with the community and group. As well as complaints regarding the use of Worcester Racecourse as the venue and licensing conditions which would potentially restrict or even prohibit some planned live music events.

For more information about the reasons for the cancellation visit: Worcester Pride Guide