In case you missed it, here is the latest update from the board chair - Will Robson
Firstly, a very happy new year to you all on behalf of all the team behind Aviation Pride UK. I hope you all had a lovely festive period and got to spend some time with your friends and families. I wanted to take the time to write this message to give you all an update on what’s been going on with APUK, visibly and behind the scenes.Â
As we look back on 2024, we have made huge strides to setting up this grassroots organisation. We only actually registered as a charity and ‘existed’ on the 18th January, exactly one year ago today. In that time, we have hit a lot more milestones than we could have imagined. Some of our highlights are:
Hosting over 10 social and pride events for members across London, Manchester, and Birmingham
Growing to a membership of over 100 members
Working with over 30 industry partners, including five corporate first-class memberships!
There is no way we could have achieved all of that without the support and generosity from you, the members of APUK. I would like to take this opportunity to extend a personal thanks to all the Concorde members who have continued to support us over the last year and into the future. As some may know, building an organisation and a community like this takes more than time and effort. The extremely generous donations made by our Concorde members have no doubt allowed us to excel through our infancy and thrive into our strategy in 2025 - from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
2024 for us was very much our foundation-building year. We needed to make sure that the structure of this organisation has been built to ensure the success of the charity into the future. Whilst this will always be reviewed and an ongoing project, we are finally in a position to put the majority of our resources into our vision of many membership benefits to truly build, support, and unite the LGBTQ+ aviation community.Â

We reviewed all of the feedback that had been provided through membership surveys and have been hard working on a programme to benefit all. As well as hosting more social and networking events, bringing family and connections across the country, I’m excited today to announce some of the upcoming benefits we are working on in 2025.
Above and Beyond Mentoring
As we relaunch our mentoring scheme, we’re excited to bring a great benefit to our members. This is particularly important as we start partnering with training organisations across the industry, making sure that everyone can see themselves in a career within aviation and have the personalised support and guidance to get there. Some of the aims of the programme are to:
Assist our members to achieve personal growth and reach their aviation and/or professional goals.
Create opportunities for new members to build relationships and connections within the organisation as well as in their career field by encouraging engagement with fellow APUK members.
Build a culture of confidential, non-judgmental support within APUK where members can seek help and advice.
The scheme will soon be open to mentors and mentees, so look out for more details in an upcoming update about how you can get involved and support the next generation of our community.
Final Approach Event Series
We want to ensure that we have a diverse event offering, that doesn’t just include gay bars! This year we will be hosting a range of informative, entertaining, and educational events, online and in person, to ensure that we not only offer networking opportunities but the chance to learn and thrive. Keep an eye out online and in email updates for some of these events featuring guest speakers and behind-the-scenes tours of key aviation sites!
We have so much more included in our strategy for 2025 and we can’t wait to share more with you in the coming months. We have started updating our events list online, months in advance, making sure everyone has the opportunity to join us.Â
Our biggest struggle at the moment is time! We are so excited to develop this amazing group into an industry-changing and member-supporting organisation, but we need the help of volunteers. If you’re also passionate about what we can achieve together and able to spare a small amount of time, then we would love to have you on board! Whether it's for mentoring, social media, events, membership or more, check out this link to join us.
Finally, if you're reading this and you are not yet a member, what are you waiting for?! This community has its strength in numbers, and we're determined to keep growing the circle and support everyone in aviation. Check out our membership options here.
If you’ve made it this far, then I can only thank you! I hope this has given you some insight into what we’re doing, and I’m sure you’ll see this materialise into great member benefits for you to enjoy throughout the year. I am always here for any concerns, comments, questions, or tips that you may have. I can’t wait to catch up and celebrate with you all at an event over the next few months.
With pride,
Will Robson
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