Construction firm team up with housing organisation in aid of Manchester Pride

Staff from housing and regeneration specialists, Bramall (part of the Keepmoat group) joined this year's Manchester Pride Parade (23rd August), after being asked to be part of the celebration by partners Salix Homes.

The event was aimed at demonstrating their commitment towards understanding the diverse needs of their communities.

The show of unity was organised to coincide with Manchester Pride's 18th birthday celebrations, which saw around 250,000 people flock to the streets to witness the procession.

This year's Manchester Pride festival explored over 200 years of lesbian and gay history and boasted top performances by pop legend Boy George and Sophie Ellis Bextor.

Bramall staff teamed up with staff and customers from their contractor partners Salix Homes to walk in the parade for three hours with banners and balloons.

They walked beside a float that was provided by Bramall and a stall was set up to provide information about apprenticeship schemes.

This is the first time Salix Homes, which manages around 10,500 council-owned properties across central Salford, has teamed up with Bramall for Manchester Pride.

Both organisations strive to create positive working environments for staff, while minimising the occurrence of hate crime and discrimination among their customers. Bramall Construction has been carrying out internal and external improvements to over 1,100 properties on behalf of Salix Homes as part of a £multi-million programme of investment in the last year, which includes bringing homes up to the government's Decent Homes standard.

Jackie Crozier, festival manager of Manchester Pride, said: "We're absolutely delighted that Bramall and Salix Homes are getting involved in the Manchester Pride parade. We hope their messages of equality and diversity will be greatly received by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community."

Jackie Donnelly, Senior Resident Liaison Officer for Bramall, said: "We wanted to get involved in this year's parade because we take equality and diversity issues very seriously.

"The Manchester Pride parade enabled us to get our message out there to 250,000 people and it also makes us more approachable to both tenants and prospective employees."

Kevin Scarlett, Chief Executive for Salix Homes said: "Central Salford has a vibrant and diverse community, as one of the main service providers in this area we take our responsibility to reduce inequalities in the area very seriously. Providing services which are accessible to all of our customers is really important to us. To get this right, we need to understand their needs. Pride has been great opportunity for us to reach out to a large audience and engage with our customers in a way which suits them.