Proud to Support Bristol Pride 2024

Bristol Pride is one of the largest UK Pride events, pulling in a massive 40,000 people over one day each year.

Elim were proud to once again support the event for a fourth year running by setting up in the community area along with other fantastic charities, support groups, social groups and service providers to celebrate our wonderfully diverse community.

Team Elim were able to talk to attendees about the services we offer, answer any housing related queries and discuss careers in housing.

Jane Okonkwo, Elim’s Head of HR said: “I’m proud to be part of an organisation that engages with and supports the LGBTQ+ community and I’m delighted that we are taking part in Bristol Pride again. This is a great opportunity to support our friends, colleagues and customers in the LGBTQ+ community.

At Elim, we’re determined to provide an environment where everyone can be themselves, or bring their ‘authentic self to work’, helping us better engage with the diverse communities and stakeholders that we work with every day.”

We know that young LGBTQ+ people are especially vulnerable and disproportionately affected by homelessness. A report by LGBT youth homeless charity Akt found that, “once homeless, LGBT+ young people are more likely to face violence, develop substance misuse issues and be exposed to sexual exploitation than their non-LGBTQ+ peers”, all of which increase the impacts of homelessness on a person’s mental and physical wellbeing, and make it harder to find a home.

In 2023 we were proud to formalise our partnership work with SARI, with a specific focus on raising awareness of and tackling hate crime. Through the expansion of Elim’s learning and development programme, we continue to develop our colleagues’ knowledge and understanding of diversity and inclusion and better equip our whole team to support our customers and colleagues.