Back on the 27th June I was lucky enough to join the Pride march in London with over 60 colleagues from Fujitsu, as well as some of our partners and members of Alan Turing’s family. It was a fantastic day and whilst fresh in our minds, I chatted with some of the participants to find out their highlights from the event.
Guillaume Bellmont, who joined us from Pinsent Masons, commented: “The audience were so supportive! I think it’s really inspired my colleagues and some have already asked about joining for next year. I was particularly surprised & lifted by how much the audience supported Alan Turing as Pride Hero, with many shouting his name as we passed.”
Sarah Wadsworth, Head of HR Services at Fujitsu, said: “I didn’t really know what to expect but it was so friendly and a really pleasant, relaxed day. It was great to have so much interaction with the other groups in front and behind us in the march! I was also struck by the huge response from the audience to our choice of Alan Turing as Pride Hero – it clearly resonated with them.”
Ben Boxall, Project Manager at Fujitsu, said: “It was such a brilliant day and I am really proud to work for a company where we can take part in events like Pride in London with representatives from right across the company – CEO to Graduates and everyone in between. I was blown away by the crowd’s reaction to our Pride Hero, Alan Turing, which was made even more meaningful because we had two members of Alan’s family walking with us.”
On a personal level, having been to many Pride events, in my view this was definitely the best yet. The enthusiasm and support surrounded us was inspiring. As the others have said, it was fantastic to see how people responded to Alan Turing being our Pride Hero. In fact, with our t-shirts and placards we were even being cheered by passers-by after the event had finished on our way to dinner!
Caroline Moore, Project Management Graduate at Fujitsu, said: “It was a really brilliant day and I thought it was great to see such a diverse mix of ages and backgrounds from Fujitsu taking part – it made me feel very welcome and included. The whole day was so positive.”
Sarah added: “One of my highlights from the day was hearing from our UK head, Michael Keegan – we were left in no doubt about his commitment to diversity and inclusion. It was also great that I could bring my 16 year old son to the event; it really opened his eyes to why this matters so much and it’s brilliant that he could learn from the huge range of experiences of fellow participants.”
I was also touched and very proud listening to Michael before we joined the march – it’s clear that diversity matters to him on a very personal level. And it’s great to hear from both him and Steven Cox (VP, Head of Public Sector, Fujitsu) that they want to do even bigger and better at Pride next year!
As final thoughts, Guillaume added: “It’s so important for organisations to stand up for all their employees at events such as Pride. The working population is a big part of society so I don’t see any reason why employers shouldn’t take part.”
Caroline also commented: “In the past, those in the LGBT communities have separated themselves out of fear and uncertainty. For organisations to visibly demonstrate at Pride gives people so much more confidence to be out and unashamed at work.”
Following our great experience at Pride in London, we’re now really looking forward to Pride in Manchester on the 28th – 31st August. As always, to stay in touch please do follow @ShineLGB on Twitter.
(Visited 203 times, 1 visits today)
Martin York
Delivery Assurance, Central Government; Chair, Shine LGBT+ employee network at Fujitsu UK&I
Martin is an experienced Business Consultant who has worked across multiple market sectors in the ICT industry for over 20 years, following a career in financial services.
He is a BITC Business Connector alumnus, has played a leading part in development of Fujitsu’s Responsible Business and Diversity and Inclusion approach, and is engaged in enhancing Fujitsu’s UK STEM engagement approach.
Martin joined Fujitsu in October 1996.
He is a BITC Business Connector alumnus, has played a leading part in development of Fujitsu’s Responsible Business and Diversity and Inclusion approach, and is engaged in enhancing Fujitsu’s UK STEM engagement approach.
Martin joined Fujitsu in October 1996.
Latest posts by Martin York (see all)
- What I’ve learned from 3+ years of Chairing Fujitsu’s LGBT+ network - November 18, 2016
- “From dull grey to technicolour” – why we’ve published a trans* inclusion guide - October 11, 2016
- Pride in London 2016: solidarity, empowerment and inspiration! - August 3, 2016
Related articles in Responsible Business
Building Trust and creating resilience through digitisation
I occasionally drop in and listen to BBC’s long-running Desert Island Discs radio programme.
Its archive is an 80-year-old... Read more
Uvance: A new brand for a sustainable future
Like many of our clients, peers and partners, we at Fujitsu have been through a period of reflection and self-assessment in the past... Read more
Fujitsu is supporting the wellbeing of employees with its enhanced bereavement policy
Death, although harrowing, is the one thing that’s guaranteed in life.
While... Read more
