Creating Community with Lisa from Cornwall Pride

“I am deeply proud to be Cornish, and I always will be.” says Lisa. “And I think, if you look at what is important as human beings, having a feeling of belonging is really vital for who you are and where you fit in in the world.”  

As the dust settles on the celebrations of Pride Month, we met up with Lisa to discuss all the important things Cornwall Pride do to create welcoming communities in our coastal home year-round. 

“Parts of Cornwall are really rural and isolated.  In cities, you could walk down the street and it'll be full of bars where you know that you're safe, but you might not have that in your local village.” 

“If we can make sure that people within smaller villages and towns have got role models that they can look up to and they can go “it's OK” then we know we've made a lasting, sweeping change in people's lives. It's really, really important for us that we're there to provide that link. It's important that we just keep showing you can love who you want to love, be who you want to be; and to have a hate-free Cornwall for everybody.”

The small charity is run by a handful of dedicated people, but the Pride events they organise and facilitate have a huge impact. “Our footfall each summer is around 40,000 people, which makes us the fourth biggest Pride in the country.”

In a world where trans rights are being challenged and same-sex relationships are still criminalised in many countries, the size of Cornwall Pride’s impact is a ray of hope in our local community.  

"We work really hard and, sometimes, we read things on the internet that are not very pleasant when we're dealing with our social media and responses. But then we'll get an e-mail into the inbox, and it will say 'the Pride that I just went to changed my life or changed my child's life'.” 

Seasalt has sponsored the charity for three years now, and it’s been an honour to watch the Cornwall Pride team turn our contribution into local impact. Lisa tells us, “Seasalt’s support has been really transformative.”

“It's enabled us to take the next step as a charity. We've been able to release the Empowerment Fund this year, which has been so exciting and something that we haven't had the financial capacity to do before. It supports smaller grassroots organisations across the county making real difference in their local communities.” 

It’s a way to put the power back into the hands of LGBTQIA+ people and facilitate even more dedicated events, places and spaces. “They know their community. We want to empower people, to support them, so they can make a difference.” 

To access Cornwall Pride's services or find out when the next event will be, visit their website here.