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"Huge Disappointment" - Isle Of Wight Pride 2021 Cancelled

Photo from Isle of Wight Pride.

The trustees of Isle of Wight Pride say they have made the difficult decision to cancel this year's event.

Having continued to follow developments with the pandemic, organisers say the Parade and Pride event, proposed for July, will no longer go ahead.

They say the decision is not one they have taken lightly.

A spokesperson said:

"The major considerations have been concerns that the final milestone date in mid-June will be met, leaving less than one month before the actual day of Pride.

"The same applies to dates in May; still maintaining a number of restrictions, would not enable volunteer’s adequate time for the preparation of the day to take place effectively.

"As a charity we also must consider the risk to us of investing money in planning for an event which might not be able to take place and that this could result in significant debt and perhaps loss of the charity and the event itself in future years.

"We also need to put the safety and wellbeing of our communities the wider public and our valued volunteers first.  This decision is not one we have taken lightly as we had big plans, including returning to the beach, it is a huge disappointment to us all. 

"We have also considered how the crisis may have impacted many of our local sponsors some of whom rely heavily on tourism. This will make fundraising to pay for the activities exceedingly difficult."

Trustees say they hope to hold several community engagement activities and small events around the Island later in the year.

They say, "all being well with the world", the event will return fully on 16 July 2022.

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