M&G Pride's first anniversary celebration event was saw over 150 guests in attendance alongside M&G investment employees, supporters and diversity partners.

The event was a warm review of the year’s successes. M&G Chief Executive Michael McLintock welcomed everyone and spoke about the strength of M&G Pride and its related M&G Pride Allies Network that champions the committee’s values throughout the organisation. M&G believes that for employees to achieve their potential, the working environment must be accepting and inclusive. 

“It was a brave and courageous move to set up the network, but one year on there is no doubt it has been a huge success”, said Michael. “Everyone contributes to this organisation and is equally valued”.

There was an inspiring, thought provoking address from guest speaker, British musician and religious commentator, Vicky Beeching, named by the Guardian as arguably the most influential Christian in her generation. Vicky  was a Christian music star with an enormous following in the US. Her talk was an honest and deeply moving story about LGBT and Christian faith and how we should all face our fears. Some of the key messages included how workplaces must encourage their staff to be themselves to allow them to reach their potential, form communities and collaborate as teams. She believes that companies must foster an inclusive culture which is accepting of all, enabling people to devote their time and energies to the right things, rather than expending huge amounts of energy on hiding who they are. Enabling people to be who they are empowers businesses to have a strong sense of community and develops a new dynamic.

"Vicky's speech was brilliant - it really highlighted the internal fight some LGBT people go through to accept themselves and be accepted. The way she linked it back to business and made people think differently about accepting all staff for whoever they may be was brilliant," said one participant.

"I was very pleased to see how much the initiative has grown over the past year and how much support they have, not only within M&G but also very nice to see some external faces supporting the team too. They've had a great first year, looking forward to seeing what the future holds," commented another.

"Diversity and inclusion needs continuous awareness in terms of perhaps the struggles people face and why it's important to have a welcoming and tolerant environment.The Pride event is definitely a good way of encouraging that. I felt proud to be part of an organisation that is openly supporting the LGBT (and the wider diversity) agenda," explained a further audience member.

M&G Pride has seen a number of events throughout the year including an insightful address by Stonewall's CEO, viewing of Pride Film, an engaging transgender talk and a brilliant 10 km fundraising run.