**Update: 22nd May: following the resurgence of the fire theoughout the weekend, Access has informed cilents that the site is a ”total loss” - furthermore Surrey Fire & Resuce has tweeted that the site will be demolished. Pride in Surrey are not expecting to recover anything from the site. Whilst insurance will cover some of the items stored, some will not be covered. We are also preparing for a lengthy claims process, which could complete too close or after Pride in September. Due to this shortfall, we have increased our funding target to a more realistic snapshot of what has been lost. We aim to publish an overview of what has been lost and values on our website within 48 hours. We would like to thank everyone who has supported us on our journey of rebuilding what we once had.

—

Hello, I'm Charlie, Pride in Surrey's Chief Executive. At 10pm on May 18th we were notified about the fire at Access Storage in Byfleet by one of our volunteers who lives locally. We have stored outreach and event equipment at Access for many years. The unit housed lots of sentimental items that form our history, along with most of our assets that reduce the cost of Pride year-on-year.

With thanks to efforts of Surrey Fire & Rescue and Surrey Police, the fire was finally put under control after burning for more than 15 hours.

We are now left in a extremely difficult position. We are yet to receive updates from Access themselves and from the images of the incident we are bracing ourselves for total loss.

Although we are yet to find out the full extent of the damage caused to our equipment and items, most of the items are not resistant to smoke or water, let alone fire. We are estimating the loss of our beloved wooden giant desk chairs, staging, banners, furniture, communication equipment.. the list goes on. It was a large storage room full to the brim with essential items that we rely on regularly.

Whilst we should be able to recover part of the loss through insurance, sentiment items that formed Surrey's LGBTQ+ Pride's history will be lost. We anticipate a painful and lengthy claims process.

We have lots of outreach events planned for Pride Month in June, along with opening a new pop-up Pride Hub in Redhill. All of which will be extremely difficult to do without access/having any of our equipment.

Our plan is to act now, to start replacing essential items, throughout Pride Month.

Please support this fund where you can. Every penny really does help.

Things may be gone, but our spirit and Pride will continue.

Thank you!