Durham Pride saved by trade unions after Reform UK council cut funding

Durham’s annual Pride festival will still go ahead after the county’s Reform-led council withdrew thousands of pounds in funding.

Trade unions banded together to launch a fundraiser ahead of the event on May 30, and managed to raise more money than was initially cut.

Durham Pride began in 2014 and attracted some 20,000 people to its county-wide festivities in 2023.

The council’s Corporate Affairs department has historically contributed £2,500 to the event, while its festival team gave £10,000 last year.

But Reform vowed in August that the event wouldn’t receive ‘a single penny’ from the council in 2026.

Durham County Council’s deputy leader, Darren Grimes, said in August 2025 that the money normally allocated to the festival would be diverted to ‘the services everyone relies on, not on flying the latest alphabet flag for the professional offense industry.’

‘Durham Pride won’t be getting a single penny from this council next year,’ he said at the time.

In a post on X, he added: ‘Pride stopped being a celebration of gay rights a long time ago. It’s morphed into a travelling billboard for gender ideology and political activism that many in the gay community – myself included – want no part of. Taxpayers shouldn’t be bankrolling it.’

He went on to say that while the council wouldn’t stop the event from going ahead, Durham County Council would not foot the bill for ‘contested causes’.

‘Our residents deserve bins emptied, roads fixed, and services funded – not more council-sponsored politics in fancy dress,’ he continued.

But trade unions from across the county have stepped up, raising more than £15,000 to ensure Pride goes ahead as planned.

Trade union Equity was one of the biggest donors, giving a staggering £7,200 to the cause.

Presenting the donation, Equity’s president, Lynda Rooke, said: ‘Equity – your union – will not allow a Pride event that brings work for our members and celebrates our performers to die. And I am proud to announce that Equity has stepped up.

‘What’s even better is that this new agreement, signed between Durham Pride and Equity, will ensure decent standards for all our members and our workers. We are sending a message to Reform and any other group that is planning on attacking the cultural sector, which is: we see you, we will fight you, and we will succeed.’

Durham Pride chair Mel Metcalf said of the donation: ‘I just wanted to say thank you so much. I don’t think you realise how much this really means to a small charity like ours.

‘It’s our 15th year [of Durham Pride], and what we’ve learned is that nobody can stop Pride. They said Pride won’t happen, Pride is finished, Pride is done. But they don’t control Pride, we do. So show up for Pride and get the banners out!’

Metcalf had previously said Durham Pride wouldn’t have accepted funding from the Reform-run local authority because of the party’s stance on trans issues.

As many as 6,000 people are expected at the parade on May 30 this year.

A Reform spokesperson told Metro: ‘Durham County Council took the decision to withdraw taxpayer funding because residents expect their money to be spent on core local services.

‘If trade unions and private supporters now wish to fund the event themselves, that is a matter for them. This demonstrates that the event can go ahead without relying on council taxpayers to foot the bill.’