Community rallies to get Leamington site ready for Warwickshire Pride after vandals tear down flags and decorations

The community rallied together at the weekend to help get the Warwickshire Pride site in Leamington ready after vandals tore down flags and decorations.

An estimated 15,000 people attended Warwickshire Pride on Saturday (August 19) but the event got off to a difficult start after vandals ripped down Pride flags and decorations at the Pump Room Gardens, as well as smashed glass all over the site.

However, the community rallied together with people donating their own flags and decorations to get the Pump Room Gardens ready for Pride again.

Chair of Warwickshire Pride, Daniel Browne, said: "This year's Warwickshire Pride will definitely go down as the best one yet.

"We had a record attendance, with thousands of LGBT+ people and allies celebrating LGBT+ life and culture, while also protesting against the hate the community still experiences.

"What happened on Friday night with the Pride site being vandalised highlights what LGBT+ people go through every single day.

"There are people who hate us for who we are and would like us to get back in the closet and be quiet. That's never going to happen.

"All the hate has done is make the community closer, louder and prouder. I'd like to thank every single person who got involved with the festival.

"From my fellow trustees and volunteers, to all the stallholders and performers, our sponsors and supporters, and of course every single person who attended and showed their Pride.

"Warwickshire is a difficult place to be LGBT+. Hate crimes are getting worse.

"At Warwickshire Pride we regularly receive abuse and even death threats.

"It shows why Pride is still needed, why it still needs to be a protest, and that Warwickshire Pride is probably the most important local event.

"We're not deterred through. Our haters are our motivators."

The Warwickshire Pride festival will return in 2024, with the charity providing year round support to LGBT+ people across Warwickshire, including youth groups, trans groups, parents groups, educational programmes, cost of living support, and a new LGBT+ counselling service.

Warwickshire Pride 2023 was sponsored by Coventry Building Society, Third Kind Games, Mister V Street Food, The Cycle Recycler, and Nuffield Health.