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Bournemouth Pride festival celebrates NHS staff and key workers

Dorset Police Bourne Free 2021Dorset Police
Police officers and other key workers were celebrated at the event

NHS staff and key workers have led an annual Pride parade which went ahead despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

Members of LGBT community and supporters processed through Bournemouth, Dorset, as part of the two-day Bourne Free event.

Other LGBT festivals in London and Manchester have been cancelled this month because of coronavirus.

Bourne Free trustee Harriet Rynor said organisers had distributed sanitiser and masks to make the event safe.

Bourne Free Bournemouth mayor David KelseyBourne Free
David Kelsey, Bournemouth's first openly gay mayor, was at the head of the parade
Bourne Free Bourne Free 2021Bourne Free
Hundreds of LGBT people and supporters joined the procession

Ms Rynor, a discharge coordinator at Poole Hospital, said this year's theme, 'stronger together', was in recognition of NHS staff and key workers' efforts during the pandemic.

She said tickets for the main event following the parade had sold out, with capacity being halved to 1,500 due to the Covid risk.

Bourne Free 2021
This year's theme, 'stronger together', celebrated key workers and the NHS
Phoenix (left) and Robyn
Festival-goer Robyn said those taking part were "literally coming back out of the closet after Covid"

Ms Rynor said some LGBT people had suffered disproportionately during coronavirus lockdowns.

She said: "It's so hard because you do feel isolated a lot of the time. It's that connection with people just like yourself."

Festival-goer Robyn, from Sherborne, said: "We are literally just coming back out of the closet after Covid."