Magpie Dance
Magpie Dance, a dance charity for people with learning disabilities, performed an inspiring piece titled ‘Speak Up’.
Magpie Adult Dancers created Speak Up! as part of their annual artistic theme Our People where dancers with learning disabilities explored how society has changed over time and how we treat one another. In Speak Up! dancers completed the sentence ‘I am…’ choosing their own words to describe themselves, the piece aims to showcase the pride each dancer has in their own identities.
Ian Forrest
One of our Members, Ian Forrest, performed heartfelt poetry, titled ‘Angels Changing Shifts’ and ‘The Town of Your Heart’. His performance was incredibly moving.
Duncan Devine
Duncan, also an X by X Member, talked us through his allotment, showing us a video and pictures of what he has grown and made with the produce from his allotment. Photos from his informative speech are below.
Duncan also had a stall showcasing his woodwork creations, which audience members could browse in the access breaks.
If you are interested in buying some woodwork created by Duncan Devine, please email info@xbyxbromley.org.uk and we will pass your details onto Duncan. Some examples of his wonderful woodwork are below. Many more items are available.
Lloyd Page
Lloyd Page made us laugh with his comedy jokes. He also showed us the front cover of his new book, full of blogs and pictures. If you would like a copy, please email info@xbyxbromley.org.uk and we will pass your details onto Lloyd.
Joanna Hope
Joanna Hope sung a powerful version of Miley Cyrus’s The Climb. This song is about a journey which is difficult but rewarding. She recognises that getting out of bed can sometimes be a struggle in itself but how rewarding it was to be at the event because it was so inspiring seeing all the other performers.
Age UK Bromley and Greenwich Memory Singers
Age UK Bromley and Greenwich Memory Singers choir, all with lived experience of dementia, performed well-known songs, including “Wouldn’t It Be Lovely”, “Tulips from Amsterdam” and “My Old Man Said Follow The Van (Don’t Dilly Dally)”. It was an excellent performance, with lots of opportunities for the audience to get involved.
Mayor of Bromley
The Mayor of Bromley, Councillor Jonathan Andrews, performed his poem titled ‘Creativity’. As an autistic person himself, the Mayor explained how his poem features different structures and that understanding and using these is how he expresses his creativity, breaking down the assumption that autistic people can’t be creative.
In addition to performing his poetry, the Mayor opened and closed our event. The Mayor opened the event by saying “this is an event he always makes a point of attending”. The Mayor closed the event by saying “year on year, this event never fails to showcase the fantastic talents of Disabled people”.
Abbott Movement
Abbott Movement is an inclusive dance group bringing students from different schools together to enjoy dance and have fun. Ella Abbott, group facilitator, explained how the dance group is in charge of what they do. The group gave four brilliant performances, including one based around Black History Month inspired by afrobeats, a solo performance, a duet and the last performance got everyone up dancing, including the Mayor of Bromley and local Councillors.
Remix Theatre Arts
Remix Theatre Arts, an inclusive performing arts company, showed us amazing snippets from their Christmas variety show, which is taking place on Sunday 30th November 12pm at Bickley Park School, BR1 2DS. You can buy tickets on their website.
Kayley Jeffreys
One of our Trustees, Kayley Jeffreys, gave a fantastic performance of Jess Glynne’s ‘Take Me Home’.
This song talks about being grateful for a person who provides support during a difficult time and how they help us through it. We can all relate to going through difficult periods in our lives and it was uplifting to hear a song about hope and self-belief.
Thank you for supporting Disability Pride 2025
We would like to thank:
- All the extremely talented acts and performers
- Everyone who attended Disability Pride 2025
- The Mayor and Mayoress of Bromley
- Local MPs and Councillors, including Thomas Turrell AM and Peter Fortune MP
- Our British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters and captioner
- Bromley United Reformed Church and GoodGym for helping us to set up the room
- Our sponsors for this year’s event: Barons, Bromley Lions Club and Life in Magazines
- Everybody else who contributed to making the day a success