Reading Pride was formed in 2003 to represent and support the local LGBT+ community. Since the first Festival in 2004 attendance has grown steadily year-on-year with over 11,000 people visiting the event throughout the day and well over 2,000 participating in the Parade.

Reading Pride and Sponsors – 2025

Reading Pride has created a fun, safe environment for our LGBTQIA+ community, championing local groups and creating a day when the whole breadth and scope of the Reading Community can be proudly on display.  A big part of this is keeping the event free, donation only, to allow everyone to feel they can attend and be part of something amazing. In order to do this, and to meet the costs of organising the festival, we seek local organisations and employers to help us meet the costs of putting on the festival.

Reading Pride costs over £110,000 to put on each year, most of which is spent on the general infrastructure of the event – such as fencing, toilets, waste handling, parade management, furniture, first aid, security, signage, equipment hire, stages, acts and event spaces.

In return, bar takings, marketplace stalls, fairground, fundraising events and donations on the day (including Pride Plus tickets) raise around £37,000. We receive no council or lottery funding and we’re organised by a team of dedicated volunteers.

We believe Reading Pride has created, over the years, an amazing platform for LGBTQIA+ issues. With around 11,000 people visiting each year, the community and our allies have a safe space to find out more about what our community have to offer. We believe that our size creates a strong platform for people across the region, increasing exposure to charities, LGBTQIA+ businesses and acts which help support our community year-round. To do this, we encourage and seek sponsorship from organisations with strong LGBTQIA+ values for a mutual partnership – allowing organisations to show their support to their employees as well as the wider community.

Why do organisations sponsor Reading Pride?

Reading Pride helps represent a broad part of our community. We have found that our sponsorship partners have often come through strong LGBTQIA+ groups and advocates within those organisations, who want to share the pride they have in working for them. In return, My Umbrella, a project run by Reading Pride, can often help those groups shape progressive policies to benefit all employees.

How do we choose our sponsors?

Sponsors provide the vital funds we need to keep going year after year. They are also a way of us engaging with local organisations, supporting their internal LGBTQ+ groups and organisations and sharing learning. 

We also have to balance how Reading Pride is a free event, funded by sponsorship, fundraising events, donations (financial and non financial) and powered by volunteers. We strongly want to keep Pride free, bring as many people as we can into the community and share the hard work and enthusiasm of our talented performers, crafters, small businesses, charities, food vendors and sports groups. This boost of attention, awareness and custom on this single day is so important to those who attend year after year.

Our Ethical Sponsorship Guidance is here. We require potential sponsors to provide evidence of positive and ideally exceptional employment policies alongside ethical social policies. We aim to work closely with our sponsor companies, many of whom are significant employers in Reading and Berkshire, to foster positive engagement and create progressive and inclusive workspaces. We believe this proactive engagement can lead to improvements within these organisations and for our community. We will continue to review all potential sponsors against our own ethical framework which is based around the values of Reading Pride. 

Reading Pride Trustees have reserved the right to select our sponsor partners. Each sponsorship agreement is reviewed by Trustees who look at:

• The progressiveness of the organisation
• Their motivations for supporting Reading Pride
• How their aims align with the aims of core values of Reading Pride

This includes background research into the organisations as well as speaking with LGBTQIA+ representatives within the organisation.

In deciding whether to receive the support of a sponsor, the main criteria we use is that they demonstrate support for the values of Reading Pride, in particular with regard to inclusiveness and allyship for LGBT+ rights and support of the local LGBT+ community.

Potential sponsors can evidence this in a number of ways, for example public policy statements, the presence of a company LGBT+ network (Employee Resource group), support for other LGBT+ causes or pro-equality campaigning.

Are you interested in sponsoring Reading Pride?

To get in touch with our sponsorship team on how you can help Reading Pride achieve our charity aims,contact [email protected].

Reading Pride and Gaza- 2025

We also want to make clear our position on Gaza. Reading Pride stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people and unequivocally condemns the ongoing genocide in Gaza. We support the calls for:

• An immediate and permanent ceasefire
• Full and unrestricted humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza
• The release of all hostages and political prisoners
• And a decisive end to the illegal occupation

We do not and will not accept funding from companies directly involved in arms, weapons or military support, or the direct facilitation of war and occupation. When queries are raised about companies who are sponsoring, or seeking to sponsor Reading Pride, we will investigate and will be engaging with those companies for a robust response. 

We review lists of those companies which are profiting from or enabling war. However all companies are researched to understand any links to arms, weapons, human rights abuses or war. Final decisions are made by our Trustees. 

We want to reiterate our unwavering commitment to protecting all members of our diverse community. We believe in listening to, and learning from, the lived experiences of our community members. Should any campaign groups wish to be part of the march or take a stall or space, they would be welcomed. 

For information, Reading Pride and Pepsico have mutually agreed to end our sponsorship deal and the committee are working hard to fundraise the additional money.. 

We believe that now is an important time for Reading Pride, as the United Kingdom slips further down the IDAHOT list, and persecution of our trans community, we need to ensure that we create a safe space for us to engage with our broad, vibrant community.

Reading Pride and Participation – 2025

Thames Valley Police (TVP): We recognise that police participation in Pride is a deeply contentious issue, and we take seriously the fear, distrust and trauma many in our community experience in relation to policing. Thames Valley Police will not be hosting a stall at the Reading Pride marketplace this year, however we will have uniformed police officers on site during the day for safety if required. LGBTQ+ and Ally Officers are of course welcome to attend and be part of the festival outside of uniform. 

University of Reading: Following recent updated guidance on segregation around toilets and changing facilities, the University of Reading will not have a presence at Reading Pride this year. We are happy to discuss our deep concerns with their policies should they wish. 

British Transport Police (BTP): Following recent updated guidance on bodily searches and community feedback, BTP will not have a presence at Reading Pride this year. We will also be careful watching how their actions impact the community. 

Security: We will continue to have a professional security presence at the festival, as we need to, to ensure the safety and well-being of all attendees. This is separate from any police involvement. We have a new security company which will be working alongside us this year following an active decision to change based on previous years feedback. They have been chosen for their understanding of the aims of Reading Pride and the needs of our community during the day. 

Pride as a Protest: We wholeheartedly agree that Pride is, and always has been, a protest. We are committed to ensuring that Reading Pride provides a platform for freedom of expression and for vocalising important issues. We will continue to offer grassroots and community groups a space both in our march and at our festival, and have their voices heard.

Reading Pride and Political Parties – 2025

As you may know, last year, in the face of increasing political hostility to the trans community, we called on party representatives from Labour and the Conservative party to meet with us to discuss our feedback on their policies before taking part in any activities. We met with the local Labour party MPs and representatives, the Conservative party did not respond.  

Since last year’s Reading Pride, the Labour Government has maintained the ban on puberty blockers, a policy initially justified by the now-discredited Cass Report. Additionally, Labour’s Prisons minister approved a Conservative policy to generally assign trans women prisoners to male prisons unless they possess both a gender recognition certificate and have undergone gender confirmation surgery. While widespread segregation of trans women in the NHS hasn’t occurred, waiting lists for trans care still exceed five years for an initial appointment, and draft school guidance on “gender questioning children” remains in limbo. 

A significant legal development occurred on April 16, 2025, when the Supreme Court ruled that for the Equality Act 2010, individuals are considered their “biological” sex, irrespective of gender recognition certificates. Shortly after, on April 25, 2024, the EHRC issued non-statutory guidance suggesting trans women be excluded from women’s facilities and trans men from both men’s and potentially women’s facilities, with neither the court nor the EHRC consulting the trans community. The Labour Government, including Equalities minister Bridget Philipson, welcomed the court’s findings and stated trans women should not use women’s facilities. The Tories also supported the court’s decision and the EHRC’s guidance, encouraging public reporting of non-compliance and drafting an amendment to the Data Bill to change all ID documents to “biological” sex, which would forcibly out all trans people.

 We share your frustration and alarm about the direction of national politics. Following last year’s event, we held meetings with some local party representatives and reviewed the actions and rhetoric of major political parties. It has become clear that both the Labour and Conservative parties continue to support or enable policies that are harmful to our trans siblings and other marginalised communities.

In response, we are changing our approach: no political party will be invited to participate in Reading Pride. If they wish to take part, they must first demonstrate tangible, local commitments to protecting and advancing trans rights, as well as safeguarding practical EDI initiatives.

We have developed a pledge outlining these commitments and will be engaging with all political representatives in our area to press for meaningful action, not just words. You can find details of the pledge here but in essence

For MPs – we invited them to publicly commit to the following five actions:

1. Speak out publicly in support of trans* rights, including during Pride Month, in Parliament, on social media, and in your constituency.
2. Support residents with casework relating to their gender identity, especially where they face barriers in accessing healthcare, legal documentation, or safety in public services.
3. Vote against any reduction in the rights of trans people, including legislative changes that would curtail legal protections or limit access to services.
4. Sign motions and petitions that defend and advance trans rights, including calls for NHS reform, safe access to services, and inclusive education policy.
5. Intervene with public services such as the NHS, local councils, and the police, when failures or discrimination affecting trans residents arise.

For Local Authority Councillors we asked them to:

Issue strict regulations against gender-policing in council building toilets and changing rooms, specifically that Council staff will not:

• Interrogate any person using these facilities regarding their gender, who is not otherwise causing a nuisance.
• Ask individuals to produce documentation to “prove” their gender
• Ask individuals to partially or fully undress to prove their gender
• Search, touch or otherwise manhandle individuals with the intent of determining their gender
• Carry out internet, records or database searches with the intent of identifying an individual’s gender with regard to the use of these facilities
• Remove individuals from these facilities or call the Police to do so, solely on the grounds of their perceived gender
• Advise anyone or adopt any policy of advising to use the disabled toilets solely on the grounds of their perceived gender

Ensure that there is a consistent policy respecting the rights of trans and non-binary people across all council establishments including council offices, libraries, community centres and leisure facilities. Specifically that the Council will:

• Promptly update the gender recorded for residents when requested to do so
• Manage the data related to such changes as Sensitive in the context of data protection regulations
• Treat trans people for all purposes in the gender they present in, understanding trans people may not have updated their identity records

Respect the dignity of trans and non-binary people by:

• Using the correct name or pronoun for individuals, noting it is OK to ask what these are
• Ensuring professionalism of the highest standards by training employees on trans rights

Ensure that all council services direct and contracted respect the rights of trans and non-binary people. Specifically that the Council will:

• Identify what services have previously had no valid means of achieving a legitimate aim under Schedule 3, Paragraph 26 & Schedule 3, Paragraph 27 of the Equality Act 2010
• Explicitly declare that those services identified continue to have no valid means of a achieving a legitimate aim
• Where services have had a valid means of achieving a legitimate aim, the Council will continue to operate these services as normal and advise publicly of that.

Encourage schools to adopt Amnesty International’s guidance on the themes of access to spaces, access to services and dignity and inclusivity

Commit to engaging directly with Trans affirming & Trans-led organisations on the drafting and implementation of any new policies arising directly from a Statutory Code of Practice issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission

Agree to publish a public statement reaffirming your support in line with organisations such as Lush and the British Medical Association

From initial discussions and correspondence with the main political parties over the last few months, Trustees agree that the Green Party and Liberal Democrats are welcome in our Parade and Festival as allies for their work, campaigning and positive support. We feel that the responses and commitment from the remaining parties were not sufficiently in line with our values. We took this approach, rather than an outright ban, as we want to see our local politicians properly representing and standing up for our community. For the Conservative and Labour Party – we hope we can expect better from you in the coming year. Of course any ally is welcome at Pride as an individual, rather than a party representative. 

Reading Pride and Fossil Fuels – 2025

We are committed to improving our Pride event and this includes making it a more sustainable event. We recognise the importance of adapting to protect our environment, however these changes can also be expensive. We have a series of sustainability aims, which we will review alongside the Fossil Free Pledge over the next year, and continue to work with our sponsors as well as fundraise in order to achieve these.