Hospital bosses praise sensational celebrations at Wigan Pride

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) was the headline sponsor for this year’s event and staff joined hundreds of people in glorious sunshine in Wigan town centre for the borough’s largest LGBTQIA+ event.

The trust’s staff were led out in the Pride parade by chairman Mark Jones and Richard Mundon, director of strategy of planning, while Paul Howard, director of corporate affairs, and Joseph Usher, LGTQIA+ Network chairman, addressed the huge crowd on the Unity stage.

Paul, who is also WWL’s executive sponsor for LGBTQIA+ inclusion, said: "It was a real hive of activity, energy and vitality at Wigan Pride and I was delighted to see so many colleagues from WWL attending and adding to the party atmosphere, especially as our headline sponsorship was the first of its kind for the event.

“Whilst Pride is a big celebration of people coming together in love and friendship, it was also an excellent opportunity for us to interact with the public directly, offering our services on the day and learning from people’s experiences of accessing health services with us, so that we could hear first-hand about any challenges they face.

“I have been absolutely blown away by the level of support for Wigan Pride at WWL, not only on the day, but in the build-up with all the decorations around our sites as well. We are committed to being an inclusive organisation for our patients and our staff, not only for the LGBTQIA+ community, but for everyone. Being truly inclusive is our mission and will allow us to provide the best standard of care possible to our patients.

“On behalf of everyone at WWL, I’d like to thank the organisers of Wigan Pride, Wigan Council and all the partners who helped to make the event possible, with a special thank you to everyone from WWL who has supported Wigan Pride this year and continues to support our LGBTQIA+ community.”

Mark said: “It was magnificent to see so many people celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community at Wigan Pride this year and a thoroughly well-organised and enjoyable afternoon in Wigan.

“I had the privilege of leading out more than 60 colleagues from WWL in the parade itself and it filled me with a great sense of pride to be able to do so.

“The way in which the trust has embraced Wigan Pride this year is a great example of how important equality, diversity and inclusion is to everyone who works for WWL. It’s vital that people in the Wigan borough are reassured that we are part of the community, we are here for them and we are continually working hard to make sure our services are accessible for all.”

Trust staff provided health advice and support to people at Pride, as well as listening to their thoughts and concerns.

Advice and free sexual health testing was provided by the health outreach and inclusion team, the breast screening team offered support on how to access its services, and people could register their interest in employment and volunteering opportunities.