Students at Hulme Grammar School have proved that community spirit and inclusivity are always worth celebrating, marking their third consecutive annual Pride event with a brilliant display of fundraising, dancing, and cake.
(Photo: Marc Hornby, Director of Development & Public Benefit at Hulme Grammar School, Bethany Dean-Coote Responsible Business Coordinator and Reece Hobson-Adams Responsible Business Manager from Fletchers Solicitors)
Organised by PRISM, the school’s vibrant student-led LGBTQ+ group, the celebration brought together pupils, staff, and major local businesses to champion diversity. This year’s festivities successfully raised a fantastic £454 for Just Like Us, the young people’s LGBTQ+ charity.
The vital funds raised by the Hulme Grammar community will directly support Just Like Us in its mission to make schools across the UK more LGBT+ inclusive places where all young people can thrive. Specifically, the donation will help:
Challenge anti-LGBT+ bullying in classrooms.
Support LGBT+ young people to use their voices, develop life skills, and find a safe community.
Help schools nationwide become more LGBT+ inclusive.
The day’s highlights included a wildly popular silent disco, which saw students hitting the dancefloor with illuminated headphones, and a delicious cake sale that kept energy levels high.
The event’s continued success was made possible by the unwavering, three-year-strong backing of key local partners. Renowned local baker Park Cakes generously returned once again to support the school’s Pride events, ensuring the cake sale was a roaring success.
Meanwhile, leading law firm Fletchers Solicitors stepped up for a third consecutive year to champion the school’s inclusive ethos. Fletchers employees Reece Hobson-Adams and Bethany Dean-Coote visited the school in person to see first-hand the incredible, real-world impact their long-term support is having on the student body.
While visiting school, they recorded a special interview with Matt Grant, Hulme Grammar’s Head of Spanish and the dedicated PRISM Group Lead. The visit provided a brilliant opportunity for the Fletchers team to bridge the gap between education and employment, sharing valuable insights with the students into what the modern world of work looks like in terms of workplace inclusivity and celebrating being your authentic self.
During the interview, the Fletchers team shared how workplace inclusivity mirrors the safe spaces created in schools:
Sustained Support: Reece Hobson-Adams (Responsible Business Manager) and Bethany Dean-Coote (Responsible Business Coordinator) explained that Fletchers supports the event directly because their internal LGBTQ+ network, the ‘Proud Network’, passionately champions it every year.
Inclusivity in the Corporate World: Fletchers boasts 10 employee-led diversity networks. Bethany highlighted her role in driving structural changes to make the workplace genuinely inclusive, while Reece noted that visibility from senior executives is key to helping queer employees thrive.
Advice for the Future: When asked for advice for young LGBTQ+ people thinking about their future careers, the team emphasized authenticity. “Be yourself. 100%. It’s tiring going to work and trying to be someone that you’re not,” Bethany shared, with Reece adding that young people should look for workplaces that are visibly supportive of the community.
Quick-Fire Anthems: The group also revealed their ultimate silent disco tracks, spanning from Diana Ross’s classic ‘I’m Coming Out’ to Chappell Roan’s contemporary anthem ‘Pink Pony Club’.
Matt Grant, Head of Spanish and PRISM Group Lead at Hulme Grammar School, said:
“We are incredibly proud of our PRISM students who worked tirelessly to bring this event to life for the third year running. Seeing the joy at the silent disco and the generosity at the cake sale shows just how inclusive our school community is. It was wonderful to welcome Reece and Bethany from Fletchers to the school so they could see the tangible impact of their support, and having Park Cakes back for a third year to power our event is fantastic. Knowing that our £454 donation will help Just Like Us challenge anti-LGBT+ bullying and support young people across the UK makes this achievement even more special. Our core message to our students matches exactly what Fletchers shared: always be your authentic self.”
Reece Hobson-Adams, Responsible Business Manager at Fletchers Group, added:
“Supporting Hulme Grammar’s Pride event for a third consecutive year has been an absolute privilege. Visiting the school allowed Bethany and me to see firsthand the incredible, positive environment created by PRISM. It’s crucial for young people to know that the corporate world has evolved and that there are workplaces where they can thrive exactly as they are.”
Hi, everyone. We’re here from Hume Grammar’s Prism Group. And today I have some very special guests with us. For the third year in a row, Fletcher’s solicitors are sponsoring our Pride celebrations, which means our community, silent disco and cake sale are back. Let’s meet the team.
Hi, I’m Reece. I’m the responsible business manager at Fletcher’s group.
And I’m Beth. And I’m the responsible business coordinator at Fletcher Solicitors, helping people and communities.
Q. Lovely to meet you both. So three years is a brilliant commitment. Why does Fletcher think it’s so important to keep supporting Prism and helping us.
A. It’s important to our colleagues. So our colleagues in our LGBT network, Proud Network, they ask us to sponsor a charity or an event every year. And I’ve seen the impact now for the last three years, you know, of how important and how needed it is. So our colleagues want us to do it, which is the main thing.
We hosted a Pride Roundtable, where colleagues, LGBT colleagues had a fireside chat and spoke around LGBT inclusion. We had really well attended from colleagues and including some members of our exec. So we’re really our champion visibility. We want colleagues to see that there are, you know, openly queer or LGBT colleagues at Fletchers thriving.
Round table’s one thing, but we’re involved in three Pride parades. We will be very visible in Manchester city centre in August.
Q. Okay. I’ll make sure I’m there this year. Okay. So we have a Pride group at school to ensure Everyone feels safe and valued. Do you do something for your employees similar and how does it help?
A. Yes. So we actually have 10 employee led networks covering a range of different diversities and life expectations experience, including our proud network. And Beth oversees and supports them.
Yeah, it’s one of my favourite things about my job is that I’m there to help plan socials or guest speakers for our proud network, but also importantly, there to hear what changes they want making and how we can, you know, make Fletchers a more inclusive workplace for LGBT colleagues.
Q. So brilliant. That sounds really inspiring. And if you could give one piece of advice to a young LGBTQ plus person who’s thinking about their future career, what would it be?
A. Be themselves. 100%. It’s tiring going to work and trying to be someone that you’re not. So just, yeah, be. Be yourself.
Yeah. We’re in work, like, as we are in school, like most of our lives. So if you can’t be yourself there, you know, that is your life that you’re living. And I think importantly, you need to make sure that you’re working for a workplace that is visible in supporting LGBT people because they will support you.
Q. So if you had to pick one track for the Silent Desk Disco, what is your go to Pride anthem?
A. Diana Ross. I’m Coming Out.
Q. How about you, Beth?
I love Chappell Roan at the moment. Pink Pony Club.
Q. I think for me, it’s got to be born this way. Yeah, that’s a classic. And finally, if you were at school participating in this, would you prefer the. The silent disco or the cake sale?
A. I should say the silent disco, but I do like cake.
I’ll say silent disco, then!
Even it out. Yeah, it’s one-one nice and diplomatic there. Okay, well, that’s it from us. So a massive thank you to you Fletcher Solicitors as well, for coming in and helping us keep this inclusive tradition going for the third year in a row.
And we’re really happy to have everyone of the LGBTQ community as part of our community. So happy Pride, everyone.
Happy Pride!
