Tonic X PwC Pride 2024

Every day is a day to be out and proud, celebrating our identity and community.

Pride season is here and at Tonic we use this opportunity to raise awareness of our LGBTQ+ elders, and our work to increase the options available to them in retirement, with their specific needs in mind.

Last year was our first time participating in Pride in London’s Parade with our Tonic@Bankhouse residents from the first LGBTQ+ retirement community in the UK. It was some of our resident’s first time ever at a Pride event which made our attendance at Pride celebrations even more significant. It is so important to us to continue to be able to facilitate this experience for our Tonic community, which has grown a lot in the past 12 months with many more residents!

The reality for smaller non-profit and charitable organisations, is that it takes a lot of organisation and financial support to attend the UK’s major Pride events and we are so happy that our friends at PwC UK are supporting us to showcase the Tonic community at Pride in London (29th June) and UK Black Pride (11th August) again this year.

Everything we do at Tonic is driven and led by our residents. They’re aged between 42 and 88 years old and most experience mobility or health related issues. Our priority is to make Pride events accessible for ALL of our community.

PwC’s support last year helped us to secure a traditional double-decker London bus for the Pride in London parade, as well as transport to other Pride events like UK Black Pride.

Members of Shine, PwC’s LGBTQ+ network, will also help us again by volunteering their time, supporting our small team to organise and run these events.

Thank you PwC UK! We can’t wait to live our lives OUT this Pride season with you!

Martin Smith, Director at PwC UK and former Shine Co-Chair said: “It was a personal and professional privilege to support Tonic throughout 2023, so I am delighted that we are again able to support them and their residents to access pride. All of us expect to age and retire - and Tonic’s mission to create space for LGBTQ+ elders to share common experiences in a caring and supportive space is exemplary - I am so proud to help Tonic”

David Adair, Director of Community Engagement and The PwC Foundation said: “I am so proud that we are supporting TONIC through the PwC Foundation, enabling them to increase their support for LGBTQ elders in the area of social housing and isolation.”

Anna Kear, CEO of Tonic Housing said: “‘We are so grateful to the PwC Foundation for supporting Tonic. The provision of our community-led services supporting older LGBTQ+ people relies on the generosity of charitable donations.

We owe older LGBTQ+ people our admiration and respect. To be able to include older members of our community in the Pride celebrations that they once protested for, is essential. We refuse to be invisible! The PwC Foundation has made this possible for Tonic residents.

We are excited to once again have volunteers from PwC’s Shine network with us at Pride in London and UK Black Pride, to support our small team and our residents to take part at these events. Thank you so much to everyone at PwC for your genuine commitment to Tonic. It’s wonderful to feel your enthusiasm. Here’s to a fantastic Pride season in 2024.’ “