In the run-up to Brighton & Hove Pride, the UK’s largest Pride festival, on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 August, University of Sussex Business School staff took part in a ‘Pride in Business’ week of activities to celebrate the LGBT+ community and raise money for Brighton and Hove LGBT Switchboard.

Each day of ‘Pride in Business’ week saw the team dress in different colours from the Pride rainbow flag, don rainbow accessories and enjoy a number of Pride-themed events, including:

• a special screening of the 2014 film Pride, based on the true story of LGBT+ activists who lent their support to striking miners and their families in 1984
• a ‘Pride in Business’ picnic
• an LGBT+ Pride seminar run by Meg Lewis, Clerical Assistant for Economics and an external equalities trainer and consultant, raising awareness of discrimination against LGBT+ people, terminology and legislation, and discussing how to build inclusive spaces for LGBT+ staff and students.

The talented bakers in the Business School also joined forces to create a range of bright and colourful cakes for an Equali-TEA cake sale, raising £317.05 for Brighton and Hove LGBT Switchboard, a charity that has been supporting local LGBT+ people since 1975 through its helpline and other dedicated services.

Switchboard CEO and University of Sussex alumnus Daniel Cheesman was delighted after collecting a giant cheque from Head of School Professor Steve McGuire: “I’m so grateful to the University of Sussex Business School for their fantastic efforts in ‘Pride in Business’ week. As a local LGBT+ charity, the support of people and organisations in the Brighton and Hove area and beyond is crucial to what we do. Every call to our helpline costs us £8 so the money raised really will make a difference.”