10 tips for attending a Pride parade with Scouts

From Edinburgh to London, there’s lots of Scouts already taking part in Pride parades each year, getting together, waving banners and flags, and proudly showing our values of respect and care.

We spoke to Jordan, from Blackpool Scouts, and Kayleigh, from Scouts in Northern Ireland, about their experiences in attending and organising Pride parades.

They’ve shared their top tips for getting involved:

Jordan, what’ve you found really useful for getting involved in Pride events?

Speak to the organisers: First of all, find out when it is, and contact the organisers to get a spot in the parade or at the festival. Speak to them and find out what others are doing. It could be something as simple as walking or perhaps having a branded minibus driving slowly round the route.

Make yourselves stand out: Be loud and proud. In Blackpool we love wearing our uniform and getting loads of accessories to give it that bit of pride sparkle. Last year, we had hair bands, flags, rainbow neckers and face paint. You can think outside the box too, maybe carry a tent in the parade or make up a dance routine. There's got to be a badge in there somewhere!

Find out if there’s a festival base or place for a recruitment stall: We have both Pride and Youth Pride in Blackpool. Youth Pride is a specific safe space for young people to be themselves and it’s tailored for them. We go to both. This helps us to be seen and chat to more potential new volunteers, as well as shout about how proud we are that Scouts is an inclusive movement.

Speak to your local team: Ask for help, form a team and get stuck in. Chat to your programme and support teams. There’ll be people that can help advise if you've never run a larger scale activity before and there’s lots of Pride coordinators across the UK too.

Think about safety: Remember ratios, risk assessments and safeguarding and safety.

And Kayleigh, what are your tips from attending Pride with Scouts in Belfast?

Let young people lead: Always encourage them to be involved by taking centre stage, designing banners, creating a playlist, or by having an active role in planning and participation. I think asking those who attend about what Pride means to them is key.

Start early: Try to register and confirm your logistics, such as transport, meeting points and accessibility needs as soon as possible. This makes it easier for you as the co-ordinator, but also for the participants joining. It means you can enjoy the build up to the day without any added stress.

Always over-pack on the water and snacks: you'll need them!

Be prepared for rain or bad weather: The heavy rain didn't stop us in Belfast last year, but it did mean we chanted Singing in the Rain at the top of our lungs approximately every 10 minutes!

Keep it going: Keep talking about how we can encourage inclusion all year round is so important.

And, finally, what benefits have you seen from joining in your local Pride parade?

Jordan: We got so many comments from the public about how they thought Scouts wouldn't be at this sort of thing. It changed people’s perceptions to show how open and inclusive Scouts really is, rather than ‘just for boys’ or ‘stuffy’ as they’d imagined. It makes us so happy as volunteers to see our Scouts and Explorers be proud of their identify and know that Scouts is that safe space for them when other places might not be.

Kayleigh: The benefits of Scouts taking part in Pride are huge. It strengthens our commitment to inclusion, showing young people that they can be their authentic selves in a safe place, and helps us connect with new organisations and individuals. It’s always incredible to see how empowered and confident young people feel when they see Scouts proudly participating in Pride. The smiles and genuine pride beaming from some of the Explorers we had with us was unmatched!