It’s back. This year the 11th National Student Pride event at the University of Westminster’s Marylebone campus will see more than 1500 LGBT students from all over the UK gather together for a weekend of fun and festivities in the country’s capital. Whether you’re an old hand or have never been before, here’s our in-a-nutshell guide to getting the very best from your visit.
When and where
National Student Pride takes place over the weekend of Friday the 5th to Sunday the 7th of February. The whole thing kicks off on Friday with registration and drinks at the famous G-A-Y Heaven club in Soho, carries on the next day at the University of Westminster (opposite Madame Tussauds) and then into the evening at various venues around town (but especially Ku in Leicester Square, SHE in Soho and Ku Klub in Lisle St) before concluding on the Sunday with a special showing of ‘Milk’ at the Regent Street Cinema. Tickets and detailed information are available from the National Student Pride website.
For the Mind
Expect plenty of lively and informed discussions from the various panel debates, especially given this year’s focus on mental health. The debate here will be led by Attitude’s editor Matthew Todd, and you can expect powerful contributions from Munroe Bergdorf (DJ and transgender model) Bisi Alimi (LGBT rights activist and co-founder of Kaleidoscope Trust) and Jonny Benjamin (mental health campaigner and voice behind the ‘Find Mike’ campaign). Mental health issues affect LGBT people disproportionately and the panel will share its expertise and real-life experience to offer advice and guidance.
For the Heart
Coming out is still one of the biggest milestones in the LGBT experience and here your guides are Wayne Dehisi (founder of RUComingOut and Stonewall youth programmes manager) Charlie Cragg (the manicurist behind Nail Transphobia and 40th on the 101 most influential LGBT people in the UK) and Sherelle Garwood from Stonewall Youth. Later that day there’ll also be an exhibition – #OUTCOME – which showcases LGBT people from all sorts of backgrounds and tells their stories of growing up, coming out and living their lives.
For the Future
This year National Student Pride is home to the largest LGBT student Careers Fair in the UK with more than 30 companies already signed up, including Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Fujitsu, the Royal Navy, Ditch The Label, PwC and Teach First. It’s a fantastic opportunity to talk to some of the most interesting and forward-thinking companies in the country and not to be missed. Last year there were over 50 companies in the hall and this time around the organisers aim to beat that. Find out about the latest arrivals as they happen by following @StudentPride.
We hope you’ll come along and check us out at the Student Pride Career Fair but if you can’t wait till then, why not see what graduate opportunities, internships and full-time jobs are available here at Enterprise?