Community work of Pride Whanganui recognised with high commendation at Rainbow Excellence Awards

Pride Whanganui trustee Christina Emery (centre) with Rainbow Excellence Awards director and judging convenor Martin King (left) and a Skycity representative (right).

The work of charity Pride Whanganui has been recognised at the 2023 Rainbow Excellence Awards.

Pride Whanganui trustee Christina Emery said while the group and its volunteers didn’t do their work for awards, the recognition felt awesome.

“It was great that the judges wanted to recognise our hard work in the community.”

The awards are the only rainbow-focused programme of its kind in New Zealand and recognise workplace leadership, innovation, best practice and collaboration in organisations committed to rainbow diversity and inclusion.

Pride Whanganui was awarded a highly commended in the Skycity Community & Advocacy Award, which recognises the outward commitment to community groups.

The charity was also nominated for the Rainbow Tick Non-Commercial Sector Award.

Emery said she entered the group in the awards out of curiosity and believed Pride Whanganui was the only fully voluntary group in attendance.

“We sat at the table with the crew from TVNZ and we looked around and there’s the New Zealand Defence Force, there’s Downer, there’s a whole massive mix of corporate organisations and then us.”

She was proud to represent the work being done in Whanganui and said the commendation showed how far the passion and hard mahi of a team of volunteers could go.

“I think the thing to look at is how much you can do with just passion and incredible volunteers because it certainly isn’t just me that does that.”

It also showed Whanganui’s progression as a place where LGBTQ+ people could feel safe and included.

“Someone coined us the pride capital of New Zealand and I 100 per cent represent that, I love it,” Emery said.

A lot of Pride Whanganui’s community and advocacy work in the community was done behind the scenes, such as working with schools and businesses to ensure they were inclusive and safe spaces.

“We run a big healthcare reference group, we work behind the scenes with businesses and organisations to make sure they’re a supportive place for rainbow people.”

The group’s public work included organising the annual Whanganui Pride Week, as well as running support groups for the young and elderly in the community.

It was now planning for the 2024 edition of Pride Week, with an announcement to be made this weekend.

“Something that we’ve never done before is happening in Whanganui which is going to be very awesome.”

The group is continuing its work to establish Whanganui as the Central North Island’s hub for all things rainbow and providing resources to all people in the region.

Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.