Pride events and flying the rainbow flag are great ways for businesses to celebrate progress and show solidarity with their LGBTQI staff and the wider community. But to help those around the world facing discrimination and violence on a daily basis we need to do more.
One company who is marking Pride with purpose is Tesco, standing in solidarity with LGBTQI communities around the world by selecting GiveOut as a charity partner. GiveOut has leveraged our recently launched LGBTQI Solidarity Fund to double the impact of Tesco’s corporate donation unlocking more support for LGBTQI organisations globally.
Here, the LGBTQ+ at Tesco colleague network shares why it is paramount for them to support LGBTQI organisations all year round, and how their ethos of diversity and inclusion filters into their partnerships with charitable organisations.
Words by the LGBTQ+ at Tesco colleague network
Tesco is proud to support Give Out as part of our Pride charity donations this year, and looks forward to a long standing partnership to help improve LGBTQ+ inclusion all year round.
As the UK’s biggest grocery retailer with over 330,000 colleagues, Tesco is in a privileged position to support our communities in many different ways. Our colleague LGBTQ+ at Tesco network has existed since 2005, and we strive for everyone from all our communities to feel like they can belong and thrive at Tesco.
We are here to provide a safe space for our colleagues to share their thoughts and experiences, advocate for our diverse communities and raise awareness of important events and issues.
To Tesco, Pride is about standing proud together, celebrating our wonderfully diverse LGBTQ+ colleagues and customers across the UK and helping to elevate the voices of LGBTQ+ colleagues. It is the perfect opportunity for us to use our scale and reach for good.
For our colleagues, supporting local Prides all across the UK means that everyone has the opportunity to connect with each other and celebrate in a way that is important to them, and we are really proud that in 2024 Tesco is supporting over 20 Prides, all the way from Plymouth to Dundee.
Partnering with charities during Pride shows our commitment in Tesco at supporting the LGBTQ+ communities to make a tangible difference in their lives. While Pride month is a key time for the community, our partnerships with charities extends beyond this to be an all year round collaboration. This helps Tesco and our colleague network listen and understand the challenges faced by the community, and how we can support. Tesco are proud that our charitable donations are flexible, meaning that the charities can decide to provide the resource where it is needed the most.”
Tesco is supporting LGBTQI organisations around the world through the LGBTQI Solidarity Fund, an exciting initiative by GiveOut to mobilise the UK LGBTQI community and allies to come together to show our collective support for LGBTQI communities worldwide. With support from foundations and the UK government through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), GiveOut is building a pool of match funding to double the impact of donations by individual and corporate donors.