On Saturday 27 August 2022, P&O Cruises and Cunard were proud headline sponsors of the Southampton Pride Parade and Festival. An event initially launched in response to the 2016 Pulse night club attack in Orlando, USA and now makes it their mission to promote equality and diversity, advance education and eliminate homophobic and transphobic discrimination within the local community.
Anya Parkhouse-Turner, our Senior PMO Analyst, heard the call and was quick to volunteer, here she shares her experience of the day:
“The whole day was really well organised, Carnival UK has been headline sponsors for six years so have it well organised now, this year we had the largest volunteer group to date. The Pride event includes a parade through Southampton followed by a large festival held in the Guildhall square with business stalls, food and drink stalls, fun fair and two stages for performances throughout the day and into the night.
As volunteers we were well looked after with branded t-shirts, a horn to make lots of noise during the parade, a rainbow face/body paint pen, official lanyards and rainbow sunglasses, what more could you ask for?! Oh wait, there was also plenty of food, drinks and sun cream available too! They literally had everything covered!
The Pride Squad volunteers were from all parts of the business, both shore and ship based. I really enjoyed meeting some lovely people – there are some amazing roles in this business!
Throughout the day we were asked to join the audience and to cheer on the P&O and Cunard sponsored acts whilst they performed on the main stage, this included Headliners theatre group, bands and singers. During La Voix’s set 5 of us were asked to go on stage and support, which we gladly did! I took a big gulp when I saw the amount of people in the audience looking back at us!
At around 18:00, with all the branded items given away, we packed up the stalls and loaded the van. I stayed to watch the remainder of festival until about 22:00, meeting up with old and new friends.
I have to thank all those organising and participating in the Pride Squad, especially Tom Driscoll and Kate Johnston, I felt well looked after and supported on the day and they all made it a really good fun event to volunteer at.
Thinking of volunteering next year? Do it – I am!
