The Brighton Pride board seems to be attempting a sharp U-turn in response to a surge of public anger at their proposals for a ‘scaled down’ Pride event. The proposal included plans to cut all the diversity and entertainment tents including the dance tent, cabaret tent, men’s tent, women’s tent, people of colour tent and the pop tent. Even the fun fair would face the axe.
Speaking on Brighton’s Juice FM radio station Judith Manson, Brighton Pride’s fundraising and communications manager, said, “People have been shouting and screaming, and we have listened. It’s become loud and clear that people want a dance tent. We are seeking proposals for a dance tent for Pride 2010.”
Acting chair, Robert Clothier added that: “We just need to find a new way of making that pay for itself. Whether that’s Wild Fruit, or another promoter that’s out there, we’re looking for proposals.”
Aeon Events, the organisation that runs Wild Fruit, has hosted the Wild Fruit dance tent since Pride’s earliest days, and raised over £75,000 for the charity.
Robert went on to say of the cabaret tent – another major attraction that the proposals cut out – that “I don’t think it was purposely pushed off the park. To my mind the cabaret tent was never completely removed in the proposal. We are going to endeavour to make sure that space is on the park.”
Yvonne Barker – the chair of Pride in Brighton and Hove – has already resigned from her position over the fiasco, accepting “responsibility for the relationship breakdown between Pride and some community groups and local businesses” but then lashing out at those who didn’t support her.
She derided the “aggressive and bullying approach to the Pride trustees and staff adopted by a small number of business and press representatives” as “shameful,” and said she hopes Brighton Pride does not work with “the small number of aggressive individuals who oppose positive change and that have a vested interest in making money and taking it down a commercial route.”
The controversial proposal for Brighton Pride was released after the board’s fundraising efforts continued to falter following a £50,000 deficit in their budgets. However, the Pride board’s decision to cut all the most popular attractions from the park event has been seen by many as tackling all the wrong issues.
Brighton Pride has claimed that their proposal refocused Pride on the community, and helped them to deliver their charitable objectives. But, Pride has simultaneously cut their grants to community groups, and abandoned the annual Winter Pride week. The proposal has met with disapproval from large parts of the gay community, with over 6,500 people joining a Facebook group in favour of abandoning the changes.
Some local LGBT businesses have suggested the deficit is actually down to rising staff costs. The charity’s accounts shows that their staff costs have risen by around £25,000 since 2007, despite income remaining fairly level at around £311,000. The charity has now made one member of staff redundant and cut the hours back of the two others.
The LGBT businesses which support the event each year showed their dissatisfaction with the way the event has been managed at the recent Pride feedback meeting in Brighton. Pride came under fire for poor business strategy, a lack of consultation with local businesses and losing their connection with the LGBT community.
The Brighton Pride board were unavailable for comment in the days after the meeting.
A Possible Solution
A possible solution to the crisis – and one that has been supported by many of the LGBT businesses which help to fund Pride –has been put forward by Wilde Ones, the production company that has staged the park event for the last 10 years.
The Brighton Pride Rescue Plan sustains all the entertainment on Preston Park exactly as it is, and would be financially independent from the Pride board. The proposal is for a business and community partnership, with all profits generated being donated to charity. The park event would be fenced off, with a suggested minimum donation of £3 going to help production costs.
Despite initially brushing the proposal off, in the radio interview acting chair Robert stated that, “If we get to the end of the process and find that none of the tenders are viable, then we will be looking for other proposals.”
Judith continued: “We haven’t rejected it, but we can’t consider it at the moment.”
Pride is expected to make a further announcement in the first week of December.
All photographs courtesy of www.realbrighton.com.