Cornwall Pride newsletter · Summer 2026
One and All
Community, courage and connection from across Cornwall.
A word from our CEO
In more than a decade of supporting Pride in Cornwall, I have never seen division and hatred towards people who are different as visibly as I do today. As Chief Executive of Cornwall Pride, I am appalled that hate online has led to Camborne Library closing and a children’s story time being cancelled.
Let’s name this properly. The risk did not come from Roxie Moron and Ginger reading stories. The risk came from threatening, cruel and inhuman comments being shared across Camborne Library’s social media channels. We continue to see this whenever Pride or the LGBTQ+ community is featured on Cornwall Live and Cornwall Pride’s social media channels.
This is what hate does. It shuts down public spaces. It frightens performers. It takes joy away from families. It tells LGBTQ+ people that they are not safe simply to exist.
Roxie and Ginger are a fabulous part of our community. They should have been welcomed and celebrated, not targeted.
Cornwall Pride stands with them, with Camborne Town Council, library staff and every family who has lost out because of hate.
This is not the Cornwall we are building together. At Cornwall Pride, our vision remains simple: Onen Hag Oll — One and All — working towards a Hate Free Cornwall.
This is why Pride is still needed. Cornwall, we can do better.
Matthew
Events
St Austell Pride
We at Cornwall Pride are so lucky to deliver our work alongside stellar members of the Cornish LGBTQIA+ community, and St Austell Pride is a shining example of this.
Organised by Jake from Jakes Bakes at the Market House, St Austell Town Team, and with the support of Transparent Presence and House of Damnation, the weekend-long Community Pride was a brilliant celebration.
With options for everyone — including a beach picnic, community market, drag bingo and daytime music — the team highlighted the importance of shaping Pride events with and for the local community. We were so proud to collaborate with Jake and the team this year and look forward to seeing what they deliver next year with our support.
Truro Pride
Truro Pride was an incredibly special day this year. We were overwhelmed by the number of people who came together to stand with the LGBTQ+ community and show that Cornwall is a place where everyone belongs.
We held a solidarity march through the city, with the Union Flag and the Cornish flag at the front of the parade as an act of reclamation. We also swapped the usual stage for a more personal, unplugged music experience inside the market. This created a lovely, relaxed atmosphere and led to lots of fantastic conversations.
Thank you to everyone who joined us, and especially to our fantastic volunteers, who turned out in force to make sure everything went without a hitch. We’re so grateful to everyone who helped make Truro Pride 2026 such a powerful show of solidarity.
Bodmin Pride
Saturday 27 June saw Cornwall Pride celebrations hosted by the wonderful community in Bodmin. It was a sunny, family-friendly day of visibility, community and joy at Priory Lawn.
It was wonderful to see so many people show up, especially following the closure of the Camborne Library event. Just as in Falmouth, the world’s largest Progress Pride flag was marched through the streets of Bodmin, led by the Mayor of Bodmin.
Falmouth Pride
On Saturday 25 April, we officially kicked off the UK Pride season with an unforgettable day at Falmouth Event Square. As organisers, we could not be prouder of how our community showed up.
Despite operating on a tighter budget this year, the energy, visibility and solidarity proved that Pride is defined by its people, not its funding.
- An estimated 5,000 visitors filled the town with joy, music and powerful chants for equality.
- The brilliant Pendennis Brass kept the parade dancing.
- The incomparable Vicki Vivacious hosted a spectacular afternoon of local talent on the main stage.
A massive thank you to our incredible volunteers, local sponsors and everyone who stood with us. Falmouth has set the bar incredibly high for the rest of 2026!
Safer Spaces
This month, we officially launched Safer Spaces, a new Cornwall Pride initiative designed to help LGBTQ+ people identify places where they will be welcomed, respected and supported.
The idea is simple. Participating organisations display a Safer Spaces sticker and commit to a set of values around inclusion, dignity and belonging. Each sticker also links directly to wellbeing information, support services and resources through a QR code.
- Look for the Safer Spaces sticker.
- Know that the organisation has made an inclusion commitment.
- Scan the QR code to find support and resources.
The project grew from a conversation we have been having for a long time. For many LGBTQ+ people, particularly those living in rural communities, knowing where you can safely be yourself is not always straightforward. Sometimes what people need most is a visible sign that they will be treated with kindness and respect.
The response has been very encouraging. Businesses, community organisations and public spaces across Cornwall have already started signing up, helping to create a growing network of places making that commitment visible.
Safer Spaces is not about being perfect. It is about choosing to be welcoming, being willing to learn and helping people feel that they belong.
Despite only launching on 1 June, some fabulous organisations have already joined us:
- Leap.eco
- Peninsula Medics Ltd
- The Black Cat Falmouth
- Diverse Events CIC
- Perish-A-Pest
- Cornish Bank
- The Pearl Exchange
If you run a business, community venue, organisation or public space and would like to become part of the network, we’d love to hear from you. Sign up to join Safer Spaces.
Together, we can help make Cornwall a place where LGBTQ+ people know they are welcome, wherever they go.
Partner spotlight: Seasalt Cornwall
One thing we’ve learned while working at Cornwall Pride is that community work cannot be built on one-off funding.
Belonging, visibility and wellbeing take time. Trust takes time. Relationships take time.
If we want communities to thrive, we need partners who are willing to stick around for the long haul.
That is one of the reasons Seasalt’s support means so much to us. Their support has helped us do practical things that make a difference. One of our favourite examples is the Cornwall Pride Empowerment Fund, which puts money directly into grassroots LGBTQ+ projects and community groups. We love this approach because it recognises something important: local people usually know what their communities need better than we do.
Sometimes the funding supports a new project. Sometimes it helps an existing group reach more people. Sometimes it helps turn a good idea into something real.
For us, that’s what a good partnership looks like: not just funding events, but helping to create the conditions for communities to support themselves and one another.
We’re incredibly grateful to Seasalt for its continued support and for believing in Cornwall Pride’s vision of a Cornwall where LGBTQ+ people can feel safe, visible and welcome wherever they live. We look forward to highlighting the ways in which the Empowerment Fund has supported communities in Cornwall in our next newsletter.
Catch us in the news
National Trust
We’re incredibly proud to have been featured in the National Trust’s latest visitor handbook. Cornwall Pride’s flag at Lanhydrock has been chosen for a stunning two-page spread introducing the Cornwall section, helping to showcase the county to around five million readers across the UK.
It’s a wonderful moment of visibility and a reminder of how far we’ve come in making LGBTQ+ communities visible in some of Cornwall’s most treasured places.
King’s Award celebration
Matthew and Nathanial recently attended a Buckingham Palace Garden Party in recognition of Cornwall Pride receiving the King’s Award for Voluntary Service. It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the incredible commitment of our volunteers alongside organisations from across the UK.
Like the badges they are wearing? Buy a badge here.
We’re now a Living Wage Employer
We’ve always been passionate about ensuring our staff are paid fairly, so we are proud to share that Cornwall Pride is an accredited Living Wage Employer. This reflects our commitment to creating fair, inclusive workplaces and ensuring that the people who help deliver our work are paid a wage that reflects the real cost of living.
Engagement and community
At a turbulent time for LGBTQIA+ people, Cornwall Pride is excited to once again deliver a vital programme of support, advocacy and awareness alongside our Pride celebrations in 2026, keeping community at the heart of our work.
Empowerment Fund
In February, we launched our first Empowerment Fund scheme, and it has been a great success. We were inundated with excellent applications and have been able to provide more than £8,000 of financial support to 10 grassroots groups and projects across Cornwall.
This year’s grant recipients have reported that they have been able to grow the scale and reach of their work, make their projects more accessible and, in some exciting cases, get brand-new projects off the ground. The fund has helped to make organising community groups, projects and support less financially risky, hopefully increasing their longevity. We’re excited to see how these projects continue to grow through the summer.
Local leadership
Local leadership continues to be one of our central themes in 2026. Helston, Redruth and St Austell delivered their own Pride celebrations this year, and we are excited to be working with The Pearl Exchange in Bude to deliver our final pop-up Pride event of the year.
Cornwall Pride takeover at The Pearl Exchange
Friday 31 July
Join Cornish drag royalty Roxie Moron and Cornwall Pride for an Arty Friday takeover workshop. Create your own drag persona, explore drag’s powerful role in Pride and LGBTQIA+ resistance, and help us creatively imagine the future of Pride in Bude.
Volunteer with Cornwall Pride
We still have two great Pride events this summer, so there is no better time to volunteer with Cornwall Pride. Our new Engagement Lead, Ellie, will work closely with our volunteers to make your voices heard in 2026, supporting you as we make Cornwall a hate-free place where everyone feels seen.
Sign up to volunteer at our 2026 events or find out more about volunteering with Cornwall Pride.
Community highlights this quarter
Kernow Piskies
Cornwall’s first LGBTQIA+ rugby team — and a Cornwall Pride project led by our Deputy Chair of Trustees and sports inclusion whizz, Laura — is going from strength to strength. Kernow Piskies offers inclusive, community-centred touch rugby sessions and more across Cornwall.
Truro Queers
One of our 2026 Empowerment Fund recipients, Truro Queers, is delivering a wide range of activities for LGBTQIA+ people in Cornwall in the coming months. From climbing to film nights, Truro Queers is focusing on wellbeing this summer and offers something for everyone.
Queer Ordinary
Queer Ordinary is another grassroots project supported by our grant scheme. It is an art collective running monthly art socials at the Old Library in Bodmin, where you can explore all kinds of crafts in a friendly, laid-back space.
Cornwall Roller Derby
Cornwall Roller Derby is running free summer sessions in Newquay and Penzance — a great opportunity to give it a try in a fun, no-obligation environment. Cornwall Roller Derby is inclusive and welcomes everyone in the community.
Community rates are £5, or £8 with kit hire, with a free-access option for anyone who may not be able to afford to attend.
Visit the Cornwall Roller Derby website or follow the team on Facebook.
Do you have news or an event you’d like us to consider for our quarterly newsletter? Let us know here.
