Community activism and chaos – Pride Cumbernauld shines bright
By Mairi Damer
It all started with a casual comment and a Facebook post and ended up with over 500 people celebrating inclusivity in a country park…
When a member of the Cumbernauld community said they wished there was a Pride event locally, one of the staff team at the town’s Palacerigg Country Park decided to stick a post up on Facebook to find out if anyone else fancied joining an organising group. That single post caught the eye of Alix, the teenage founder of Club at the Hub, an LGBTQ+ youth group that runs out of Cumbernauld and Carbrain Community Hub.
For Alix, and the others who turned up to the initial get-together, this was where the inaugural Pride Cumbernauld all began. As with most community projects, volunteers came and went from the fledgling organising group, but it was a core of 10 determined “doers” who really drove the project forward. A board was formed and Alix found himself acting as vice chair at the grand old age of 16, working alongside people of all ages and backgrounds.
The grounds of Palacerigg Country Park had already been offered for the event, alongside the Park staff’s expertise in event management, but the programme planning all fell to the organising group. With the benefit of hindsight, Alix says that the planning process was pretty chaotic.
“The organising group didn’t decide on a date for the first Pride Cumbernauld until quite late on – we ended up only having 6 weeks notice to pull everything together. Most of us weren’t very experienced and it was fly by the seat of our pants stuff – everything was planned in a mad rush, but myself and Beth, another teenager, got stuck right in”
The group decided early on that the format of the inaugural Pride Cumbernauld was to be a community event rather than a parade – a celebration open to absolutely everyone. Thanks to good community connections, some funding was secured, and a programme for the day was planned featuring drag queens, entertainers and even a best dressed dog competition – all pulled together for the princely budget of £2,000.
And indeed, the very first Pride Cumbernauld was a joyous community celebration, greeted as a big, big success by the 500+ people who came along on the day. The feedback was universally positive, with everyone saying what a brilliant time they’d had, even local politicians!
As for Alix, the run up to the day and the event itself were both incredibly stressful.
“I was at Palacerigg every day for a week before the day – everything was very chaotic, as was the day itself. I realised too late that we didn’t have a site map or a proper running order – I had no idea who was supposed to be doing what. Once it was all over I was an absolute zombie!”
For Alix, and the rest of the group, the event was hugely successful, but a major learning for all involved was that last minute organisation by a relatively inexperienced team is far from ideal. The organising group wasn’t even constituted until late in the process and that presented problems with banking, grants etc.
For Alix, the first ever Pride Cumbernauld was a highly successful and truly inclusive community collaboration, clearly thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who came along. Full credit must surely be given to those that ensured that this joyous community occasion came off so very, very splendidly, especially to the young community superstars who helped make it all happen.