Why Pride is Important to Me

By Joshua Wilds, Customer Service Manager at Santander UK

Hi! My names Joshua Wilds, and I’m a Customer Service Manager for Santander UK. My job is to inspire, lead and engage a team within the branch network, in order to offer exceptional service to our customers. I live on the sunny South Coast near Portsmouth with my lovely boyfriend Matthew, who also works for a bank. If I’m not working then I love spending my time travelling the world, ideally on a cruise ship with a nice glass of wine in my hand watching the sunrise over the Caribbean.

Joshua (middle) with friends at Pride

Pride is important because it gives everyone that sense that they belong. No barriers, no trouble, just simply letting people be who they want to be, with who they want to be and party like they want to. It’s really important that people find the place that they belong, and Pride really gives us that platform to do so. People fight battles constantly in the LGBT+ community, and by walking the streets of local cities, towns and villages giving the message that’s it’s okay, it’s okay to be that little bit different, it makes those steps into making a truly diverse, inclusive and sparklier world to live in.

* I appreciate sparklier isn’t a word but it felt right