OTN Patron wins award for LGBT+ charity support
SPEAKING AT PRIDE: Bishop Paul addressed more than 8000 marchers at Pride in Liverpool in 2017.
PHOTO: LCR Pride Foundation.
RECEIVING THE AWARD: Revd Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, Acting Archdeacon of Liverpool, and Kieran Bohan, Coordinator of the Open Table Network.
PHOTO: LCR Pride Foundation.
WATCH Bishop Paul’s LCR Pride Foundation Award presentation [2mins]
FORMER BISHOP OF LIVERPOOL the Right Revd Paul Bayes has won an award for his advocacy for LGBT+ people across Merseyside and beyond.
On Thursday 6th April, at the LCR Pride Awards hosted by Liverpool FC’s Anfield stadium, Bishop Paul, who retired in February 2022, was honoured with the LCR Pride Foundation Award.
The LCR Pride Awards were hosted by the LCR Pride Foundation, which aims to make the Liverpool City Region [LCR] as
‘the most LGBT+ friendly region in the UK’.
The awards celebrated the achievements of the region’s LGBT+ community and allies.
In July 2017, Bishop Paul became a Patron of the LCR Pride Foundation, the charity which hosts Pride festivals across the Liverpool City Region. He spoke to around 8000 marchers at the start of the Pride festival in Liverpool that year.
He walked with the Christians At Pride group in the Pride march in 2017 and 2018, the first serving senior bishop in the Church of England to do so. For Pride in Liverpool in 2019, 2020 and 2021 he recorded moving video messages in support of the region’s LGBT+ community.
The LCR Pride Foundation Award is a special accolade whose winner is selected by the foundation’s Board of Directors. The Foundation said it celebrates:
the winner’s shared vision to make our region the most LGBT+ friendly in the UK and the support it has provided in the establishment of the foundation.
Bishop Paul was unable to be present at the awards ceremony, which fell on Maundy Thursday, as he was preaching elsewhere. He wrote on Twitter in response to the announcement:
Just hugely grateful and privileged and proud. This is an honour as great as any I have ever received.
The award was accepted on Bishop Paul’s behalf by Revd Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, Acting Archdeacon of LIverpool and Rector of the parish where the first Open Table community began, and Kieran Bohan, Coordinator of the Open Table Network.
Kieran said:
Bishop Paul has had a significant role in the story of the Open Table Network, from his first visit to the Liverpool community in 2015, to becoming a Patron of the Network in 2020. His advocacy for the LGBT+ community locally, nationally & internationally has been exemplary. It is a delight to receive this award on his behalf.
The first Open Table community in Liverpool was also nominated in the Community Group / Organisation of the Year category:
for creating a safe and inclusive space that is incredibly welcoming to all, at a time when religion can sometimes be seen as unwelcoming to the community.
READ MORE about Bishop Paul Bayes’ support for LGBT+ people in the Liverpool City Region and beyond.
Updated 22/05/23 to include video of award presentation.
