Airbus to sponsor ‘Take 5’ project at this years Chester Pride

Airbus has announced it is to sponsor Chester Pride 2021 as its Pride@Airbus LGBT+ staff network in Broughton concludes its World Pride Month celebrations.

In 2019, the aerospace company, which employs more than 4,000 people in Flintshire, arranged for its iconic whale-faced BelugaXL super-transporter to fly over the Chester Pride festival site as a mark of its support.

As in 2020, this year’s Chester Pride will again be a virtual affair with Airbus sponsoring the charity’s ‘Take 5’ project, which encourages people to take five minutes out of their day to practice some self-care.

People can apply to Chester Pride for a free mug, branded with the Take 5 and sponsor logos and filled with information and suggestions of activities they can do, such as exercises, puzzles, and social activities.

Aircraft Fitter and Pride@Airbus Broughton network member Caleb Maxfield said: “We are thrilled to announce our partnership with this year’s Chester Pride as World Pride Month in June draws to a close.

“Throughout the past month, our Pride@Airbus network has been highlighting the importance of inclusion and diversity in the workplace through the personal stories of some of our LGBT employees and we have more activities planned later in the year to grow our network further.”

The Pride@Airbus network covers all major Airbus UK sites, including Filton – where it began – Broughton, Portsmouth and Stevenage, as well as the company’s operations in the United States, France, Germany, Spain and India, where homosexuality was only recently decriminalised.

Head of Broughton Plant and Pride@Airbus Executive sponsor and ally Jerome Blandin said: “We have made huge strides in developing our LGBT+ staff and ally network at Airbus in Broughton over the past 12 months, so we’re proud to sponsor Chester Pride once again to show how Airbus values diversity in our workforce.”

Chair of Chester Pride Warren-Lee Allmark said: “We are delighted that Airbus has become a sponsor again for 2021 after what we know has been a tough year for the aviation industry. We have been in close contact with Airbus’ Pride network throughout and have been incredibly impressed at how they have been pushing the diversity and inclusion agenda.”