The 10th Norwich Pride parade promises to be the most colourful, vibrant and musical yet, and the region's mental health trust will be joining the fun to show its support for diversity and inclusiveness in our society.

The parade will take place in Norwich on Saturday, July 28 and Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) will have a stand at Chapelfield while the trust's Wellbeing service will be at the Forum.

Both will have information about the services and support we offer, making the most of this important opportunity to engage with members of the LGBT community about mental health issues.

Ravi Seenan, head of equalities and engagement at NSFT, said: 'Equality of opportunity is at the heart of what we do. We value the diversity of our entire staff by aiming to provide a truly inclusive and fair culture where talents can flourish.

'This means that patients and service users are more likely to receive appropriate and effective services that are fair and accessible, irrespective of their age, gender, race, religious beliefs, disability, sexual orientation, social class and marital status.'

Stonewall carried out a report in 2012 which showed that 22pc of gay and bisexual men were suffering from moderate to severe levels of depression.

In the year before the survey was published, 79pc of lesbian and bisexual women said they had had a spell of sadness, felt miserable or felt depressed.

This increases to 84pc of bisexual women and 86pc of black and minority ethnic women, while 46pc of LGB pupils reported having experienced homophobic bullying.

Mr Seenan added: 'We improve care and provide a better environment for patients and colleagues by understanding that each of us has our own individual outlook, experiences, strengths and needs in life. Organisations always benefit from having people from diverse backgrounds, cultures and perspectives.

'It's important to our trust that the LGBT community knows that our services are here to help and that we understand the inequalities that the LGBT community can face within our society. We are proud to serve all of the communities across Norfolk and Suffolk.'

The Wellbeing service will also be taking part in Pride in the Park – West Norfolk's first Pride event – in King's Lynn on Saturday, August 18.

The parade leaves Tuesday Market Place at 1pm and there will be live entertainment, guest speakers, stalls and more in The Walks by the bandstand from 1.30pm.

Wellbeing will have a stall at the event offering information and support to the local LGBT community.