01 Jun Pandora teams up with Stonewall for Pride month in support of better LGBTQ+ inclusion
Pandora, the world’s largest jewellery brand, is joining forces with LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall in support of Pride this summer. Between 1 June and 31 August 2023, 10% of each sale generated from a select range of pride-inspired Pandora charms will be donated to Stonewall to support its mission of equality and acceptance of LGBTQ+ people. Pandora has pledged a minimum £25,000 donation that will be distributed across Stonewall’s ongoing work to build a world where all LGBTQ+ people are free to be themselves.
Pandora began working with Stonewall in 2022, when the company launched its ‘Pride at Pandora’ network in the UK, a grassroots initiative aimed at transforming the experiences of its LGBTQ+ employees in the workplace, providing peer-to-peer support and raising awareness around better inclusion of underrepresented groups. The network actively promotes acceptance, equality and equity, as well as celebrating the work of LGBTQ+ people, and raising awareness of issues affecting the community.
A year since launching the network, Pandora has implemented a number of new initiatives, including virtual and in-person training on allyship for all employees in the UK & Ireland, optional pronouns on name badges for its retail employees, active knowledge sharing as well as charitable donations to Stonewall. The company believes that through its latest fundraising partnership, it will be able to make a meaningful impact for the LGBTQ+ community, not only through the money raised, but also through its broad reach.
Ross Monaghan, Sales Director at Pandora UK&I and leadership sponsor of the Pride at Pandora network said: “We want Pandora to be a place our colleagues and customers feel safe, welcome and wholeheartedly accepted for who they are. While we’re incredibly proud of the strides we’ve taken to be more inclusive as a workplace, we recognise that we are on a continued journey of growth and learning. Our collaboration with Stonewall over the past year has provided invaluable support and knowledge to help improve our understanding of LGBTQ+ experiences, and has empowered our business in so many ways to continue to do more for the community. We are absolutely delighted to support their work further this year through our exciting fundraising partnership for Pride.”
Liz Ward, Director of Programmes at Stonewall said: ‘The UK of today is now a ‘rainbow nation’ where more LGBTQ+ people than ever now feel free to live and love openly as our true selves. Visibility has been vital in shifting societal attitudes and we are excited that Pandora is offering new ways for us to proudly display our love this summer.
We are grateful to Pandora for their generous donation, which will help us continue to build a world where all LGBTQ+ people can be ourselves, and equally for their commitment to making their workplace a welcoming environment for LGBTQ+ employees’
The initiative is an extension to Pandora’s broader commitments towards diversity, equity and inclusion. Within the company’s global sustainability strategy, Pandora has set goals to ensure that, by 2025, at least 30% of brand ambassadors in its global communication will come from underrepresented groups, and by the same year, 30% of its branding content budget will be spent with suppliers owned by women or underrepresented groups.
The charms included within the Stonewall partnership include a Rainbow Dangle charm, Pink and Blue Murano charms – which paired together make-up the Transgender pride flag colours, and a Love is Love Heart charm.
More information on how Pandora is supporting the LGBTQ+ community can be found at https://uk.pandora.net/en/pride/.
