A new team has been elected to lead Congleton Pride into the future.

Congleton Pride Trust held its annual general meeting recently at which it elected a new committee to take it into its seventh year.

Abby Smith and Ronan Clayton were elected as co-chairs for 2025-26, with Abby leading on campaigns and Ronan on events.

"Pride is about visibility, celebration and community, but Pride is also a protest for acceptance and human rights," Abby said.

"With this in mind we will be bringing a series of initiatives and events to support all of the community, to bring it together in solidarity and to show we will not be put back into the closet during these challenging times that we live in."

Ronan added: "We will be holding more small intimate events, which look to raise funds and awareness for future projects."

Congleton Pride took place back in July (Credit: Jules Hill)

The AGM, at Trinity Methodist Church Hall, saw the Pride committee reflect on the previous 12 months' activities.

Outgoing chair Malcolm Pope thanked each member of the team and praised them for what he described as the 'best Pride event in Cheshire'.

He also expressed gratitude to those who have been vigilant in reporting hate incidents to the police, including damage to banners, the actions of so-called 'preachers' in Congleton town centre, and incidents on social media.

Malcolm also paid special thanks to Abby Smith, for her work on advocating for trans people following the Supreme Court ruling, and Garry Fuller, who has stepped down from his role as social media manager.

Although stepping down due to other commitments, Malcolm said it had been 'the honour of his life' to chair Congleton Pride.

Mayor Robert Brittain, MP Sarah Russell and then chair of Congleton Pride, Malcolm Pope (Credit: Jules Hill)

Treasurer Richard Walton expressed thanks on behalf of the whole team to Malcolm for being an outstanding leader and chair of Congleton Pride.

The treasurer then confirmed that Congleton Pride remains on a sound and stable financial footing, with healthy reserves in the bank.

The meeting discussed plans for 2026.

Financial, political and team pressures led to a discussion about possibly having a 'fallow year', as many festivals do, but team members felt that the visibility of a 'main event' was important.

The consensus was to continue with the smaller ongoing social events and run a 'slimmed down' Congleton Pride on July 18, 2026, details of which will be confirmed in the coming months.