Marching with Pride for Guy's and St Thomas'

This year more than 100 staff from Guy’s and St Thomas’ marched at London Pride on Saturday 8 July and many others attended UK Black Pride events in Vauxhall on Sunday 9 July.

Staff, friends and family who attended Pride took the opportunity to celebrate the trust as an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender) friendly place to be cared for and to work in.

More than 26,000 people marched in the Pride parade through central London, with lots of support from the watching crowds for NHS organisations and their LGBT staff.

This year it was a real honour for Guy’s and St Thomas’ to take part in UK Black Pride for the first time. The event was held at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens and was a great opportunity for our staff to participate in this inclusive, community event. On the day our staff represented and promoted Guy’s and St Thomas’ services to members of the community and recruited people to become Foundation Trust members.

The theme of Pride this year was #LoveHappensHere and you can see photos and videos from the day on the LGBT Forum's Twitter account @GSTTLGBT.

Jayne King and Alex Risorto, Guy’s and St Thomas’ LGBT Staff Forum Co-Chairs, said:

“We all work to the best of our abilities when we can be ourselves. We're incredibly proud to be part of a Trust that supports LGBT staff and patients and it was wonderful to see more than 100 LGBT staff, our staff allies (straight staff who support LGBT), and family members representing Guy's and St Thomas' at this year's Pride in London parade.

“This year was also the first time our LGBT Forum attended UK Black Pride. Southwark and Lambeth are very diverse boroughs with lots of LGBT residents and we had a fantastic day getting to know our neighbours and interacting with the community. A big thank you to all our staff and friends who made the weekend such a success.”

If you would like to join the Guy’s and St Thomas’ LGBT Forum please email [email protected].