Volunteering and Getting Involved in Blackpool

Almost everything that makes LGBTQ+ Blackpool special, from Pride to the support groups, depends on volunteers. Giving a few hours is also one of the best ways to make friends, learn new skills and feel part of the community. Here's where you can help.

Blackpool Pride

Blackpool Pride is run by a volunteer committee and needs many more helpers over the festival weekend in early June.

• Festival volunteers help with everything from collecting donations to stewarding. You must be 18 or over, and roles in the Youth Pride area need a DBS check. Apply through the volunteer form on the Pride website.
• Parade marshals keep the Saturday parade moving safely along the Promenade.
• Walk in the parade. Groups of fewer than six can simply turn up on the day. Larger groups and anyone with a vehicle must apply in advance, and drivers need to send licence, MOT and insurance details about a month before. Email parade@blackpoolpride.org.
• Run a stall. Community stalls are first come, first served. Bring your own gazebo, tables and power, and have public liability insurance and a risk assessment. Email info@blackpoolpride.org.
• Fundraise. The free Rainbow Weekend in February sees bars across the quarter host shows to raise money for the festival. Shops can join the Decorate the Town window competition.

Sexual health and harm reduction outreach

The LGBTQ+ health charity on Dickson Road has one of the most varied volunteer programmes in town. Roles include:

• Sexual health outreach: joining staff in LGBTQ+ venues and public spaces, handing out condoms and lube, sharing safer-sex advice and promoting mobile HIV and STI testing.
• LGBTQ+ and HIV group support: helping run community groups, visiting venues, representing the charity at Pride and offering peer support.
• Events support: Pride, health fairs and testing sessions at colleges and universities.
• Drug and alcohol outreach: accompanying staff to hospitals, drop-ins and home visits to help people back into support.
• Needle exchange support: giving out clean equipment and harm reduction advice, with naloxone training provided.
• Counselling and CBT: for qualified counsellors or students at Level 4 or above who need placement hours.

What you need: to be 18 or over, a DBS check and two references (one personal, one professional). Lived experience helps but isn't essential. What you get: a two-part induction, ongoing training in HIV, LGBTQ+ awareness, substance use and sexual health, travel expenses and, for counsellors, help with supervision costs. You can volunteer weekly or just at events. Apply through the charity's online form, or call 01253 311431.

Counselling and support across Lancashire

The county LGBTQ+ charity's counselling service is delivered by volunteer counsellors who are LGBTQ+ themselves, either students on placement or qualified graduates. Sessions are by phone or video, so you can volunteer from Blackpool. The charity also recruits volunteers for its peer groups. Email hello@lancslgbt.org.uk and ask for its volunteer pack.

Listening on the phones

Blackpool has its own Samaritans branch on Edward Street, staffed by local volunteers who answer calls day and night. It recruits and trains new listeners from the community. Contact the branch to find out about its next training course.

Young people and youth work

• A Fylde coast youth work organisation, which runs Youth Pride and the Rainbow Equality Group, is an accredited training centre for youth work qualifications and welcomes people who want to work with young people.
• Youth clubs and sports groups can work towards the Be You Youth Provider Quality Mark, which is a good project for a volunteer-led club to take on.

The Rainbow Quarter itself

• The Blackpool Rainbow Alliance, a community interest company formed under the Be You programme, organises the Pride weekend Rainbow Quarter Street Party on Lord Street with local businesses. Planning for a bigger 2027 party started straight after the 2026 event.
• The Be You programme has an LGBTQ+ forum, a friends group and working groups that steer its plans. Businesses can join the local business group.

Share your story

Blackpool's queer heritage project is building the town's first permanent collection of LGBTQIA+ heritage. You can record an oral history, lend photos or objects, or come along to a History Club evening. Its 2026-27 work leads to exhibitions at Showtown and the Grundy Art Gallery in 2027.

Sing, swim or ride

Joining the LGBTQ+ choir, swim or cycling group is a form of getting involved too: these groups only exist because people turn up. See our sport and social groups page.

Fundraise

Local people regularly raise money for LGBTQ+ causes. The sixth form college's LGBT+ group has held Pride afternoons with cake, a town deli once ran a rainbow-doughnut fundraiser, and in June 2026 staff from a nearby bar walked from Preston to Blackpool by way of Lytham. Both the county LGBTQ+ charity and the Dickson Road charity accept donations and support fundraisers.

Volunteer requirements can change, so check with each organisation before you apply.