National Student Pride, now in its 11th year, is back in London.Once again focusing around our daytime festival on Saturday 6th February 2016 at the University of Westminster’s Marylebone campus, over 1500 LGBT students from across the UK will be taking part in a weekend of festivities from Friday 5th to Sunday 7th February.
The evening entertainment will be hosted by the infamous G-A-Y night clubs, who this year will be hosting a G-A-Y Homecoming Party. The same club notorious for setting entertainment headlines nationwide with bespoke, phenomenal performances from the likes of Adele, Lady Gaga and Ellie Goulding. As one of the most popular night’s of the year at the club, we expect to have a queue just as long as Kylie’s (and ours in 2015).
Last year we welcomed a host of LGBT personalities as part of our panel debates, including Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black, Newsnight host Evan Davis, and EastEnders Executive Producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins who announced exclusively that Eastenders would be blazing a trail by hiring a trans actor for a trans role, a statement realised on-screen in October 2015.
This year our core focus is the difficult, but vital discussion of Mental Health, which disproportionately affects LGBT people. The mental health debate will be hosted by Attitude Magazine editor Matthew Todd, who will provide real-life experiences and expertise covering the LGBT spectrum. We look forward to announcing some exciting and crucial testimonies to this panel soon.
We’re also proud to announce a Coming Out discussion in conjunction with the R U Coming Out website created by Rainbow List high flyer Wayne Dhesi, a YouTube panel made up of LGBT YouTubers and a TV-style live chat show.
A host of media sponsors have already confirmed coverage of the event including Attitude magazine, Gay Star News, Diva magazine, The Telegraph, audioBoom and QX magazine.
The popular Sunday cinema event will return in 2016, this year hosted at the oldest cinema in London on the iconic Regent Street. This intimate screening at the newly refurbished 175 year old screen at the University of Westminster will show a huge LGBT film along with a brunch. Details to be confirmed within weeks.
The proudest aspect of our event is the careers fair, which keeps the daytime event free and is now the largest LGBT student Careers Fair in the UK. Fujitsu, the Royal Navy, the RAF, Ditch The Label, PwC and Teach First are just some of the 30+ organisations already signed up, and we expect to exceed last year’s roster of 50. Follow our social media for more big announcements of stalls. (@StudentPride)
National Student Pride is being platinum-sponsored in 2015 by EY for the sixth consecutive year. Liz Bingham (Managing Partner for People, UK & Ireland at EY and Student Pride ambassador) said: ‘We are very proud to support National Student Pride for another year. At EY we are passionate about enabling people to come together in an environment where they feel included and respected. National Student Pride enables LGBT students to do just that’. Law firm Clifford Chance are gold sponsors. Aviva, IBM and Enterprise Rent-a-car are silver sponsors.
The event began at Oxford Brookes University in 2005 as a response to the Christian Union’s ‘Homosexuality and the Bible’ talk. Student Pride continues this mantra in its 10th year. Student pride has chosen to hold its 2016 event at on campus because the fight Students face against LGBTphobia is unfortunately just as prevalent as when we started.
Tickets for the event will be on sale from December 4th on the Student Pride website, launched with a party at Ku Klub, located at Ku Bar Lisle Street, in the heart of London’s Soho Queer scene.
