The charity behind Luton’s annual Pride festival has announced its closure, meaning this year’s planned event will not take place.
Pride In Luton said this week that its trustees had concluded the charity no longer had the organisational capacity to sustain itself after a “challenging year”.
As a result, the Pride In Luton Festival, scheduled for 13 June, has been cancelled while trustees complete a “structured and compliant wind-down”.
The news follows the Manchester Pride charity entering voluntary liquidation in October after reporting it had become financially unviable, with Northern Pride – which operated Newcastle Pride – closing soon afterwards and handing over the event to new custodians.
Pride In Luton is closing after nearly three years in operation, having registered in March 2023 as a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO).
In a statement to Civil Society, the charity said: “Pride In Luton CIO has taken the difficult decision to wind up because the charity no longer has sufficient trustee capacity to maintain the governance framework required of a registered charity.
“While the charity itself will dissolve, we hope that members of the committee and wider community will continue to organise LGBTQIA+ events and activities in Luton in the future.”
Accounts indicated charity was ‘financially sound’
In its most recent published accounts, for the year ending 30 September 2024, Pride In Luton reported it was in a “financially sound” position.
Its main sources of income were fundraising, sponsorship and grant revenue from funders such as The National Lottery Community Fund, Health Lottery and Bedfordshire and Luton Community Foundation.
That year, it had four trustees who managed the charity, including a chairperson, co-chair and treasurer.
Pride In Luton’s last reported income of £71,348 surpassed its expenditure of £46,934. The year prior, ending 30 September 2023, it reported similar income and expenditure levels, £70,964 and £42,109 respectively.
The charity’s trustees, in a statement on its website, said that all remaining obligations will be honoured and any leftover funds will be used in line with their charitable purpose.
They added: “We are proud of what Pride In Luton has achieved for the community and grateful to everyone who has supported the organisation.”
