--- title: Daniel Pitcher talks about pride month description: Happy Pride Month 2021 - My Story! A time to celebrate identity, equality and diversity! image: https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/hubfs/Pride%20Month%201.jpg --- [![Water-Hygiene-Centre-Logo1-2](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Water-Hygiene-Centre-Logo1-2.png?width=225&height=80&name=Water-Hygiene-Centre-Logo1-2.png "Water-Hygiene-Centre-Logo1-2")](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/) [![white-logo](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/hs-fs/hubfs/WaterHygieneCentre-2019/Images/white-logo.png?width=198&height=69&name=white-logo.png "white-logo")](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/) - [** ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/news/pride-my-story&title=Daniel%20Pitcher%20talks%20about%20pride%20month&picture=https://f.hubspotusercontent30.net/hubfs/2896031/Pride%20Month%201.jpg&description=Happy%20Pride%20Month%202021%20-%20My%20Story!%20A%20time%20to%20celebrate%20identity,%20equality%20and%20diversity!) - [**](https://twitter.com/share?source=https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/news/pride-my-story&text=Daniel%20Pitcher%20talks%20about%20pride%20month%20-%20https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/news/pride-my-story) - [**](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/news/pride-my-story&title=Daniel%20Pitcher%20talks%20about%20pride%20month&summary=Happy%20Pride%20Month%202021%20-%20My%20Story!%20A%20time%20to%20celebrate%20identity,%20equality%20and%20diversity!) # **Daniel Pitcher and Pride Month - My Story!** by [Daniel Pitcher](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/news/author/daniel-pitcher), on 08-06-2021 Find me on: [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pitcher-57899a21/) ## [![Daniel Pitcher - Pride Story](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Pride%20Month%201.jpg?width=600&name=Pride%20Month%201.jpg)](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/news/pride-my-story) Wow, Pride Month is here again!!  A time to celebrate identity, equality and diversity!  Here’s a thing, at the age of 45 I’d never thought I would be ‘coming – out’ again…  This might come as a surprise to a few people reading this post, to others not.  ## I ‘came out’ first time during my second year of University in 2004... To say I was nervous, worried, and scared would be a fair summary of how I felt at the time.  A housemate from Uni made a point of taking me to the LGB Society, it was more the fact she marched me into the meeting and got me settled! Here I met new friends, Raoul, Dino, Paul, Jez, Anth & Juice!  I soon came to be more comfortable with who I/we all are.    My parents and brother were accepting without any hesitation or question – I recognise I am very fortunate.   ## Now, 45 years old, sharing my story online - my ‘second outing!  Very rarely in my professional life do I talk about ‘my other half’ [for those who are reading this post and know about my partner Mark, you’re one of very few who know I am gay].  The question I find I am asking myself is, why have you not shared with everyone who you are?…  I guess, fear of the unknown [response] and how accepting.  It’s a strange notion, fear of the unknown, as humans we don’t take well to rejection.    You’ve probably seen images of organisations logos such as IHEEM, BA, NHS Grampian and Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust emblazed in the pride colours to help show their support and commitment to the LGBTQ+ community.  As the head of an organisation and a member of the LGBTQ+ community I had to think why is the Water Hygiene Centre not resonating with equal pride in declaring support and commitment…     During my career, I can count on less than two hands the number of colleagues and clients I’ve worked with where we’ve been open about our sexuality and orientation, sadly not many.  June 2021 is the time for recognition and commitment to the LGBTQ+ community. ![pic 2](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/hs-fs/hubfs/pic%202.jpg?width=191&name=pic%202.jpg) The Water Hygiene Centre is a small, dedicated, hardworking and committed team I am lucky to have such great people providing support to each other and clients.  Everyone within the team know that I’m gay and live with my partner Mark [and our two little pooches ‘Charlie’ and ‘Bert’].  Mark and I have been together 21 years and are due to get married this October [having already postponed from last October, fingers crossed for this year]!    This is my story, did I need to come out again, I’d say ‘yes’ because there should be no shame and no fear of being who you are!  #thisisme #loveislove  #happypride   Daniel Pitcher, Managing Director, Water Hygiene Centre.     [![New call-to-action](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2896031/4db1e076-9c63-4bf3-ac16-195ee83ee99c.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2896031/4db1e076-9c63-4bf3-ac16-195ee83ee99c)   #### About the author #### [Daniel Pitcher](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/news/author/daniel-pitcher) With over 21 years of independent consulting experience, Daniel established the Water Hygiene Centre in February 2009 to be a ‘centre of excellence’ dedicated to independent water safety consultancy. His experience spans auditing, training, development of Water Safety Plans, incident investigations, competent help support and acting as Authorising Engineer [Water] [AEW] for NHS Trusts, Health Boards, Local Government, Universities and Housing Associations. ### Recent News ### [Legionella Risk Assessments and BS8580-1:2019 Event](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/news/legionella-assessments-presentation) by [Water Hygiene Centre](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/news/author/water-hygiene-centre), on 11-06-2026 Legionella Risk Assessments and BS8580-1:2019, do your risk assessments comply? Jim Perry, Senior Consultant and Authorising Engineer (Water) from the Water Hygiene Centre, reiterates the need for... [Read More](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/news/legionella-assessments-presentation) ### [5 Top Tips for Water Safety](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/news/5-tips-water-safety) by [Sarah Morley](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/news/author/sarah-morley), on 25-02-2026 Join Pete Tyson from the Water Hygiene Centre as he delivers 5 top tips for water safety. Whether you have direct responsibility for water safety or simply want to learn more, this CPD event is a... [Read More](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/news/5-tips-water-safety) ##### Share your thoughts ### Subscribe to our weekly email updates [![New call-to-action](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2896031/a09ebb17-596b-42dd-b32b-de5b8408a5c4.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2896031/a09ebb17-596b-42dd-b32b-de5b8408a5c4) **About** **Services** **Training** **Knowledge Spa** [![Water-Hygiene-Centre-Logo1](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/hs-fs/hubfs/WaterHygieneCentre-2019/Images/Water-Hygiene-Centre-Logo1.jpg?width=241&height=86&name=Water-Hygiene-Centre-Logo1.jpg "Water-Hygiene-Centre-Logo1")](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/) ### Connect with us - [![Facebook](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/hubfs/WaterHygieneCentre-2019/Images/facebook.png "Water Hygiene Centre on Facebook")](https://www.facebook.com/WaterHygieneCentre/) - [![LinkedIn](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/hubfs/WaterHygieneCentre-2019/Images/linkedin.png "Water Hygiene Centre on LinkedIn")](https://www.linkedin.com/company/water-hygiene-centre/) - [![YouTube](https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/hubfs/WaterHygieneCentre-2019/Images/youtube.png "Water Hygiene Centre on YouTube")](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFc94KlCXe3HNXT-uXuBd8w)                                                                             © Copyright 2026. All rights reserved. ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement" : [ { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : "https://www.waterhygienecentre.com", "name" : "Home", "position" : 1 }, { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : "https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/knowledge-spa", "name" : "Knowledge Spa", "position" : 2 }, { "@type" : "ListItem", "name" : "News", "position" : 3 } ] } ``` ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org", "@type" : "Organization", "description" : "established in 2009 to address the lack of independent water hygiene consultancy within the industry. From our humble beginnings, we have established ourselves as a market leader, helping clients identify and minimise the risk of waterborne contamination and disease, whilst improving compliance performance.", "legalName" : "Water Hygiene Centre Ltd", "logo" : "https://2896031.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/2896031/WaterHygieneCentre-2019/Images/Water-Hygiene-Centre-Logo.jpg", "name" : "Water Hygiene Centre", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/WaterHygieneCentre", "https://twitter.com/waterhygienec", "https://www.linkedin.com/company/water-hygiene-centre", "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFc94KlCXe3HNXT-uXuBd8w" ], "url" : "https://www.waterhygienecentre.com" } ```