Greene King has presented the Switchboard LGBT+ Helpline with £50,000 at the City of Quebec, claimed to be London’s oldest LGBTQ+ pub.
This is the third year that the pub company and brewer has supported the charity, bringing its total support to £70,000.
As part of its #DiversityMakesUs campaign during Pride month in June, Greene King partnered with Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and Absolut Vodka to donate 10p (+VAT) per drink sold across Greene King’s 1600 managed pubs to the charity.
These funds will go towards supporting Switchboard with its freephone helpline number which was launched at the beginning of the year. The helpline continues to receive ever-increasing caller volumes from members of the LGBTQ+ community and beyond.
The helpline service is run mostly by volunteers and provides a confidential and non-judgemental helpline for LGBTQ+ people looking for a sense of community, support or information, 365 days a year.
Switchboard is the chosen charity of Greene King’s LGBTQ+ focussed employee led inclusion group, The Village Greene. Made up of team members from across the business, the group has helped Greene King take positive, practical steps towards everyday inclusion, and helped develop the company’s new gender identity policy.
Greene King’s chief communications and sustainability officer Assad Malic said: “The work Switchboard does is incredibly important for the LGBTQ+ community, and with the help of our supplier partners we’re proud to have raised an outstanding £50,000 through donations from the sale of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and Absolut Vodka.
“As the heart of communities, pubs play a vital role in supporting the LGBTQ+ community, and we will continue to ensure inclusivity is at the core of all we do, to help promote allyship between team members and support all of our guests to feel a sense of belonging.”
CEO at Switchboard, Stephanie Fuller, said: “The £50,000 donation from Greene King has helped to fund our freephone helpline and means that we will be able to meet the ever-rising demand for our services in these difficult times for the LGBTQ+ communities.”
