Barton Peveril Sixth Form College students celebrated diversity in their community, during the College’s annual Pride Festival on Thursday 17th February 2022.
The student-led event was attended by thousands of students from across the College, with an extensive range of stalls, activities, and entertainment showcasing the ways in which Barton Peveril and the wider community are diverse.
As part of the event students from the College’s societies set up stalls promoting their respective groups, which included the Gender Sexuality Alliance and the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and students also had the chance to attend the College’s first ever drag show featuring current College students.
“Fantastically popular and well-attended”
Barton Peveril Teacher of Photography and member of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Davina Wilby, commented on the event:
“The Barton Pride Society worked together to organise an event that celebrated gender and relationship diversity, we had stalls from The Beaumont Society, No Limits, People’s Pride Southampton and the Library in attendance providing information, resources and support, as well as the BPS team running face-painting and selling badges which raised over £105 for their nominated charity ‘The Trevor Project’ who support LGBTQ+ young people worldwide.
“We also had a spectacular Drag Act from 2 of our First Year students Quinn Blake & Bora Sin Paige who performed so confidently in front of a HUGE audience. The event was fantastically popular and well-attended, the positivity and community spirit from the student body was just brilliant! Can’t wait for next time, thanks to everyone who came along!”
Student Sam Snell, who was involved in organising the event, said:
“The event was important to me because I wanted to ensure that people who may not be able to celebrate who they are at home would know that they have as much of a safe space to express themselves as those who have come out. I wanted to make sure everyone knew they were included and valid.”
