Tag Archive for: Pride

Wimbledon’s Rainbow Crossing Gets More Inclusive

In 2019, Love Wimbledon worked with Merton Council to install a Rainbow Crossing in Wimbledon Broadway, to celebrate the town’s inclusivity and welcome its first LGBTQ+ bar CMYK. After a short break, the crossing has returned with a slightly different look and a more inclusive design, featuring the ‘Progress Pride’ flag to include representation for black and trans pride.

Delivered by Merton Council, the updated crossing has been relocated to a new location 50m west of The Broadway, after improvement works that took place outside New Wimbledon Theatre to create a new public space. This is the thought to be the first rainbow crossing in London, with a more inclusive design, demonstrating Wimbledon’s progress towards being a town where all feel welcome.

Helen Clark Bell, Chief Executive of the Love Wimbledon BID, commented:

“We’re very glad to see the rainbow crossing return to Wimbledon, with a new and more inclusive design to represent the broader LGBTQ+ community. As well as creating a warm welcome to all, the crossing contributes to the growing arts and cultural scene in Wimbledon and is an absolute joy to see.”

Councillor Marsie Skeete, Cabinet Member for Women and Equalities, added:

“We’re so happy to welcome back the Wimbledon crossing – it is a wonderful symbol of Merton’s inclusivity. We’re incredibly proud of our LGBTQ+ community and have always stood up for equality – the return of this crossing demonstrates our commitment to and pride in the diversity of the borough. It is just one of the many ways that the council stands in solidarity with all those who face discrimination in Merton and beyond.”

Love Wimbledon are continually considering how to enhance the vibrancy of our town and have helped provide multiple other free art installations for the public to explore, including innovative wall murals with eco-messaging. To find out more about our work to develop a ‘Secret Wimbledon’ full of hidden gems, click here.

 

Merton Council delivered the crossing with FM Conway Contractors.

Wimbledon Rainbow Celebrating Inclusivity

A new rainbow crossing has landed in Wimbledon to celebrate the town’s inclusivity, welcome its first LGBT+ bar, and support this year’s Pride in London events.

 

Love Wimbledon BID, worked with Merton Council to install a Rainbow Crossing in Wimbledon Broadway next to New Wimbledon Theatre and the recently opened bar CMYK. The multi-coloured crossing has been created in the design of the Rainbow Flag – which has been adopted, across the globe, as a symbol to celebrate the LGBT+ community and its diversity. The crossing aims to delight and bring a smile to everyone using it, whilst sending out the Welcome to Wimbledon message.

Excited pedestrians walking across the rainbow crossing

Helen Clark Bell, the Chief Executive of the Love Wimbledon bid, said: “The bright, beaming rainbow that has landed on Wimbledon Broadway celebrates Wimbledon’s new LGBTQ bar which is a beacon of the town centre’s inclusive community. Building a sense of pride in Wimbledon has been a key objective for Love Wimbledon. What better way to celebrate this than to have a rainbow pedestrian crossing installed outside CMYK, the first LGBTQ Bar in Wimbledon.”

 

Cabinet Member for Women and Equalities, Councillor Laxmi Attawar said: “We are really proud to have created a Rainbow Crossing in our borough to show a blaze of colourful support for members of the LGBT+ community. We want to extend a warm welcome to the CMYK bar which is a wonderful addition to the diverse cultural offer we have in Merton.”

 

Patrick Lyster-Todd, Secretary of Merton LGBT+ Forum, said, “This is an amazing and symbolic undertaking by the London Borough of Merton, not just to mark this year’s Pride in London but also the opening of Wimbledon’s first LGBT+ bar and club, right at its centre. I have been there several times already and it is the most welcoming, fun and safe place for all, with marvellous staff – but our local LGBT+ community must now rally around and support it wholeheartedly so that it becomes a vibrant new home for all of us.”

 

Charlie Walker the General Manager at the bar CMYK, said he and his staff are delighted with the welcome they have received in Wimbledon. He said: “There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.”

See more photos on our Twitter feed.