VOLKSWAGEN’S involvement in this weekend’s Milton Keynes Pride Festival will be its first engagement in a UK-based Pride. The festival will also see the unveiling of the PRID.3 – a one-off, custom-designed ID.3 model, modified to symbolise Volkswagen UK’s Diversity and Inclusion programme.
The PRID.3 is a unique ID.3 created specifically for use at the festival, which takes place in Campbell Park on Saturday (September 13). Its distinctive design is inspired by the psychedelic camouflage pattern used on ID.3 prototypes and rendered in the colours of the Progress Pride flag to create a meaningful and eye-catching livery for the model.
It has been on display this week in the atrium at Volkswagen Group UK headquarters at Blakelands in Milton Keynes.
The pattern, and the car itself, define Volkswagen’s new relationship with Pride, representing wholehearted inclusion and a celebration of diversity.
“The PRID.3 brings together what we do as a car maker, with what we do as a responsible employer,’ says Volkswagen UK director Andrew Savvas. “As the PRID.3, it reflects the company giving something back to the local community.”
VW’s sponsorship of Milton Keynes Pride Festival covers the Community Tent and Sensory Area – two spaces where families can enjoy themselves while being a part of Pride.
The Community Tent will host family-friendly acts including authors, pantomime shows and magic performers, while the Sensory Area caters to families with neurodiversity requirements and provides a more peaceful place away from the buzz of the main entertainment.
Find out all about the Milton Keynes Pride Festival at www.miltonkeynespridefestival.com
Volkswagen will also have a sponsor area, where visitors can find out more about the brand’s Diversity and Inclusion focus and activities. Pride volunteers from Volkswagen Group will be on hand to inform visitors why Volkswagen chose to be involved, what it means for the brand, why it fits with the company’s values, and where it sits within the wider Diversity and Inclusion initiatives of the Volkswagen Group in the UK and internationally.
Volkswagen’s involvement in Milton Keynes Pride Festival originated in the We Drive Proud UK Employee Network Group and has spread to the wider business as more colleagues expressed interest. We Drive Proud UK was established in late 2019 and met remotely throughout the pandemic, hosting high-profile online events such as talks with prominent LGBTQ+ figureheads and senior global executives.
Membership has expanded from a handful of original attendees to include board and management team members, with LGBTQ+ colleagues represented, as well as supporters and friends from across the business. Involvement in Milton Keynes Pride Festival has further raised awareness of the network, said Mr Savvas.
Integral to the PRID.3’s design is the incorporation of the 11 colours of the Progress Pride flag – with the traditional red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple joined by black and brown to represent LGBTQ+ people of colour; and pink, light blue and white to include transgender people.
“Another facet of the car shows Volkswagen looking out for its employees with inclusive and fair employment and hiring practices and behind the ID.3 itself re the brand’s commitment to environmental responsibility, in delivering the model carbon neutral to customers and providing a genuinely affordable electric car,” says Mr Savvas pictured.
The wrap was created in collaboration between Volkswagen AG, Volkswagen UK and Creative FX, which rendered the wrap and applied it to the ID.3 before it earned its stripes to become the PRID.3. The camouflage pattern took one-and-a-half days to design from start to finish, and three days to apply to the car at the Creative FX studio in Bromley.
“Being involved in Milton Keynes Pride Festival as a major employer in the area is a brilliant opportunity to demonstrate our support of the local community,” says Mr Savvas.
“Volkswagen means ‘People’s Car’, which stands for all people so there is really no better event to get behind than Pride for the good of our colleagues, customers and community.”
The We Drive Proud UK network sits within a wider Diversity and Inclusion programme at Volkswagen Group UK, with Driven Women, Cultural Diversity and Parents and Carers employee network groups set up within the workforce.
Says Mr Savvas: “Diversity and Inclusion are at the heart of all that we do.”
