“Pride month is always joyous, especially when we have lovely sunshine too. I have attended a number of Pride events and the joyfulness, the fun, the love and the dancing is truly infectious and uplifting.

As well as celebrating, though, it’s important we reflect on why and how Pride came to be; and to use it as a time to think about how we can learn and continue to empower those within the LGBTQ+ community.

As an organisation we always aim to be inclusive, and this year we have chosen to use Pride Month as a time to think about how we can improve and plan in tangible ways to continue empowering our tenants.

This spring Unipol staff and Housing Managers have completed LGBTQ+ awareness training. This has allowed us to gain a better understanding of the challenges faced by the community and how to better provide support, particularly when considering shared living. Staff have also completed Mental Health First Aid training, Resilience workshops, and Gambling Awareness training so that we can better support you in your accommodation.

We have identified two key staff members who will be available to anyone with questions, worries and concerns. They will also continue to organise staff awareness training and will champion Unipol’s inclusivity, diversity and values. The U Experience team are developing a calendar of events which will be open to all and will provide safe spaces for LGBTQ+ tenants and allies.

We want to walk beside our LGBTQ+ tenants with PRIDE! If you have any ideas of what you would like to see; activities, events, talks, socials etc, please get in touch with our Tenancy Support Coordinators, Jan or Katie, who will be happy to chat to you about this.”

The Stonewall website also contains a really useful tool which lets you know about local groups and services in your postcode. Take a look here.