THE lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) community in Fife is being encouraged to get involved in forming the board to organise Pride for 2018, making it a permanent event in the Kingdom calendar.

Following the first ever Fife Pride, held in Kirkcaldy, on July 1, organisers are now looking for talented individuals to come forward to register their interest at a series of public meetings and a Cowdenbeath man is urging people to get involved.

Fife Council have pledged to support organisers with multi-year funding to ensure the future success of the event.

Pride attracted an estimated 3,500 people who enjoyed a march and festival in the town centre, with a team of nearly 50 volunteers contributing as many as 1100 hours of free time to organise the event. Following a survey of over 440 people who attended Pride, there’s now evidence the local economy benefitted to the tune of an estimated £150,000 on the day.

Fife’s first Pride was led by Kirkcaldy-based Pink Saltire, a national LGBT news and information charity, and staff from Fife Centre for Equalities, the regions equalities hub. They were supported by a team of local activists and supporters from Fife Council, Fife Cultural Trust and Kirkcaldy 4 All.

Cowdenbeath's Stuart Duffy, Founder of Pink Saltire, is encouraging locals to get involved: “Our first Pride was a huge success and we couldn’t have made it possible without a fantastic team of volunteers. "We know there are lots of people who support Pride but it takes commitment and time to make things happen, so we need folk to come and get involved.

"I’m encouraging anyone with some fundraising, administration, event management or marketing skills to come along to one of the meetings and speak to us – you’ll be part of something amazing!”

Four meetings have been arranged which are open to the public, with venues kindly provided by the team at Fife Cultural Trust. Members of this years committee will be available in Tiffany’s Dunfermline, Rothes Halls in Glenrothes, Cupar Library and the Adam Smith Theatre on specific dates in September.

Pat Greenhough, Engagement Officer at Fife Centre for Equalities commented: “As the facilitator of Fife LGBTI+ Network, Fife Centre for Equalities are so proud of the achievement made collectively to bring Pride to Fife and to receive such a phenomenal response from the wider public.  It is uplifting to experience a new momentum in addressing the barriers experienced by LGBTI+ communities.”

“Fife Centre for Equalities has a unique status in bringing different communities together to champion equality and social justice here in Fife.  We shall remain a strong supporter of Pride.  Furthermore, we will ensure the involvement of other protected groups because achieving social justice for one means achieving social justice for all.”

The Pride survey showed that 83% of respondents rated that they ‘Loved” the event and for nearly half of respondents it was their first ever Pride experience. Fife Pride also made national headlines, reaching over 900,000 people in the lead up to the July event, with newspaper articles, radio interviews and an appearance on STV.

The full list of meeting dates is: Tuesday September 12

6.30pm at Tiffany’s Café, Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline; Thursday September 14 6.30pm at Rothes Halls, Glenrothes; Wednesday 20th September 20 6.30pm at Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy.