THURROCK'S new mayor Cllr James Halden visited Thurrock's Thameside Theatre this evening (Tuesday, 31 May) for one of his first official engagements, supporting the local LGBTQIA+ ( (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual) community's get together and showing the the cult film, The Rocky Horror Show.

And Cllr Halden took time to offer up a message to the local community to engage with each other and fully participate in thew week's coming Jubilee celebrations.

The theatre is to play host to monthly meetings of LGBTQIA+ where people can enjoy a social evening together. The social events will be on the last uesday of the month and the next film will be Pariah, on Tuesday, 28 June.

A spokesperson for the group said: "Our LGBTQ+ cinema and social is for the LGBTQ+ community and their allies to connect over the very best of queer cinema. We have worked closely with members of the LGBTQ+ community to bring you films that reflect and represent queer culture on screen. Our aim is to create a safe, welcoming and inclusive space for folks to watch films and make friends."

Fans of the Rocky Horror Show can sede the stage version next week when Stictly champion Ore Oduba is among the stars of the show at the Cliffs Pavilion in Southend. see link: https://thurrock.nub.news/news/local-news/rockys-on-the-road-and-coming-to-cliffs-where-strictly-star-ore-oduba-will-shine-135775