Good News GUIDE
Introducing Rev Tom
Ten Years OF PRIDE
Doncaster Unitarian Church is not only a place of liberal Christian worship. It is also a centre of interfaith activity, most recently with our efforts to encourage Muslim- Christian friendship in Doncaster. We also work closely with the Quakers and others in the faith community supporting refugees and asylum seekers in Doncaster, and we make a special effort to highlight this during Refugee Week.
I don’t remember exactly when it was, some time in April 2006, but I do distinctly remember the call. It went a little like this: “Erm, I’ve been told you might be the person to help us. We’re organising a Pride event in Doncaster and need your help.” And with that call, my life changed.
Refugee Week runs from 20th to 26th June, and each year the celebration concentrates on a different aspect. This year the theme is ‘Welcome’, but there is also an underlying theme which is the same every year: ‘Different Pasts - Shared Future’. This year, Refugee Week falls right in the middle of Ramadan, so this is a golden opportunity to take that phrase and apply it to Muslim-Christian friendship. We are organising two events and supporting a third, and with the support of Doncopolitan we will keep you informed. Look out for details in the next issue.
Riddled with doubt and trepidation, I attended the first meeting of a small group who had been given £1,500 and tasked with staging not only the first Pride in Doncaster, but the first in South Yorkshire, before Sheffield, Barnsley or Rotherham. Doncaster led the way. We pulled it off in just eight weeks, a drizzly but great day. No ‘gawping at the gays’, as I’d feared, but enough to make us feel this was a platform to build on and a reason to carry on. So we grew. 2008 and 2009 were magnificent years in the Market Place with great line-ups and a growing audience – so great that after ‘09 we had to take the tough decision, for the sake of crowd safety, to vacate our beloved home.
Meanwhile, at the end of this month (May), it is the 50th anniversary of the founding of Amnesty International, so on behalf of Doncaster Amnesty we are putting on a benefit concert on Saturday 28th May at 7pm. Come and check us out.
Then came a year at the racecourse, thanks to a massive grant from the National Lottery and head-liner Toyah, and the ill-fated fireworks display. A further three years at the Keepmoat saw great Pride events, including the disastrous abandonment of the 2012 Pride due to flooding.
I am quite sure that some readers will have seen the word ‘church’, thought, “Instant Boredom!” and been tempted to quickly turn the page. Would it interest you to know that when this church opened its doors in 1912, it was one of the earliest openly acknowledged Christian Socialist churches in the country? Supporting radical and progressive causes, campaigning for social justice and giving a voice to the marginalised and dispossessed is nothing new to us. We’ve been doing it for over a 100 years.
Sir Nigel Gresley Square gave us the chance to come back into the town centre and we are now firmly established as the single biggest community event of the year, completely free of charge and with a growing crowd predicted to top 10,000 this year.
P.S. Yes, I can do same sex blessings and weddings. Contact me on: revtom1953@gmail.com
So what have we achieved? Well, in ten years the world has changed, but more importantly Doncaster has changed. Legislation is one thing, but everyday acceptance is so very, very different now to back in 2007. Gone is the trepidation. Just look at us now, with our huge parade through the town, flanked by communities and, in 2015, the Yorkshire Main Commerorative Trust ex-miners, banners and bagpipes.
Reverend Tom We like to think Doncaster Pride has played its part and we will continue to celebrate everything LGBT, as well as being hugely thankful for the changes that now make our town home to one of the best regional Pride events around. Pride will take place on the 20th of August at Sir Nigel Gresley Square. You can keep up to date with Pride online and on Facebook . Jenny Dewsnap
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