Queer Heritage South: what we’ve learned about running LGBTQ+ heritage projects
In the summer of 2006 I was a pretty lost young LGBTQIA+ person studying in the US, desperate to find community and belonging. Something drew me to visit the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco – and just a brief tour around the archive blew my mind.
Within this community’s collection there was such richness and diversity: from intensely intimate portrait photos of the early AIDS crisis to one of the original rainbow flags. It made me feel part of a historical lineage in a way I had never experienced before.
When I returned home I wanted to recapture this feeling, and gradually my awareness grew of LGBTQIA+ heritage organisations in my area and their work. Making a life in Brighton and running Marlborough Theatre, I knew that I wanted LGBTQIA+ heritage to be central to my career.
Our communities are not ‘hard to reach’, they just needed the right invitation.
David Sheppeard
Driven by social purpose: Queer Heritage South
Queer Heritage South is a heritage learning project celebrating and promoting the cultural life of the LGBTQIA+ community in Brighton & Hove and the south of England. I’m its Project Director.
In 2022, together with the Heritage Fund, we delivered mentoring sessions for small Pride and LGBTQIA+ organisations in Sussex. It’s been exciting to see new projects come to life as a result of this! Over the next four years we hope to expand our network across the south east of England to share best practice and support smaller organisations on their journey to funding and delivering their own LGBTQIA+ heritage projects.
What I’ve learned along the way
Through collaborating, asking people endless questions and from trial and error, I've learned so much. For others working in LGBTQIA+ heritage, the most valuable lessons I can pass on are:
- Respond to a need: the Queer in Brighton archive started because LGBTQIA+ stories in Brighton and Hove weren’t being collected. We knew we had to do something about this unique heritage being lost.
- Unlock the power of the community: Once word began to spread about the Queer in Brighton project, we were overwhelmed by the response and we collected over 100 oral histories. Our communities are not ‘hard to reach’, they just needed the right invitation.
- Provide a place to gather: We piloted a heritage event series, Brighton LGBTQIA+ History Club, in 2016, which is still running today. It's one of the most lively and diverse audiences in terms of age we’ve experienced. Digital has huge value, but there’s something vital about our community learning about its heritage in person.
- We’re stronger together: We’ve collaborated on exhibitions and festivals and are now embarking on a four-year programme, QHS: Live Archive, working with organisations including Brighton Museums and University of Sussex. It’s all been driven by partnerships. In the current challenging climate for LGBTQIA+ communities the importance of sharing resources and knowledge can’t be underestimated.
Spotlight on Margate Pride and sharing challenges in heritage projects
One of the organisations Queer Heritage South has worked with – as part of a bigger collaborative project gathering footage of life in Margate and Folkestone’s LGBTQIA+ communities – is Margate Pride. They are incredible and have since started their own heritage project called New Rumours, which has received a Heritage Fund grant. It's celebrating Margate's LGBTQIA+ venues of the 1980s and 90s.
Mia Pollock from Margate Pride shares my sentiment on the importance of working together. She told me: "Sharing stories, achievements and failures all chip away at the stigma that still surrounds the queer community. And we’re reaching the same audience: for a younger person to encounter a story that resonates with them can be incredibly powerful."
The nature of our heritage presents challenges which mean collaborating with communities and collecting heritage before it's too late is vital. Mia says: "One challenge is that the community’s memories about the places and times we’re investigating are sometimes unreliable. Stories connected to gay bars – often the only location where LGBTQ+ people could come together – can become blurry, so how do we document and record those stories?
"Establishing trust and consent to share the stories of a generation that’s more reluctant to be public about their LGBTQ+ identity because of the stigma they’ve experienced can be challenging. It’s all a learning curve for us, and having worked with and gained knowledge from the likes of E.J. Scott, Jane Traies and Queer Heritage South is invaluable."
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LGBTQ+ heritage organisations share their advice on how to run great projects
We spoke to two organisations running very different community heritage projects about their advice for delivering a successful project.
Meet the organisations
StoneCrabs Theatre are collecting and sharing the heritage of the Isle of Wight’s queer community. Out on an Island created the first oral history archive of the island’s LGBTQ+ community. Their second project, Pride in Self, Pride in Place, is uncovering the role of the NHS in the island’s LGBTQ+ culture between 1980 and 2000.
The Wild Mind Project are delivering a programme for LGBTQ+ young people aged 11-25 to restore a green space in Brighton, helping them strengthen their wellbeing and form friendships through caring for nature.
What they’ve learned along the way
Collaboration takes time
Building partnerships with other organisations can create greater impact for your community, but don’t underestimate how long it will take to build your network.
Franko Figueiredo, StoneCrabs Artistic Director, says: “It’s important that early on you get a clear idea of the partnerships that you want to form. Make a start on building those conversations with local heritage and community organisations, schools and museums well in advance of submitting your application for funding.”
Caroline Diamond, Out on an Island Project Manager, says: “Building connections has taken a lot of time and effort. We’re now in the position where people know our work and come to us wanting to be part of it – but it’s taken five years to reach this point.”
Berny Simcox, CEO and Founder of The Wild Mind Project, says: “We get a lot of referrals from the NHS and mental health support services. Once they get to know you, doors are easier to open the next time. Mental health and youth organisations are so stretched at the moment that they really appreciate other sources of support for young people.”
Prioritise participants’ wellbeing
Considering the wellbeing of people involved in the projects is paramount, particularly given that LGBTQ+ people feel less satisfied and face more challenges than the general population, meaning they're more likely to face mental health issues.
Franko: “We recommend having a counsellor attached to your project. Particularly with the oral histories we are collecting, we’re aware that being involved can be tough on people’s mental health. It’s important to have support available.”
Berny: “For some people our programmes are a big deal, some haven’t left the house in months. But the encouraging thing is that once they’ve come to a session, they tend to return for more. I see the difference that being in nature makes to young people’s confidence, self-esteem and happiness.”
Build a safe environment for self-expression and support
Franko: “When our Out on an Island project started, creating a supportive place where LGBTQ+ people could talk, the community was really drawn to it. We were worried about finding enough volunteers, but we ended up with more than we could cope with!”
Berny: “When we bring young LGBTQ+ people together, they’re great at supporting each other. They need to be with other young people to make them feel safe, to reassure them they won’t be picked on for being interested in nature. I’ve seen this happen, usually on the first session there’s one or two who are dead keen while the rest hold back, but by the third session, they’re all crouching down by the pond looking for frogs.”
Understand your audiences and their different needs
Franko: “We have two audiences, the LGBTQ+ community and the wider community, folk who may not understand what the acronym LGBT means. So you need to be aware that there are different levels of how you present information. Lots of people thought Pride is just a carnival, and so we wanted to teach them about the history of Pride as a protest.”
Berny: “We run monthly drop-in sessions for young people who cannot commit to the programmes, or who have finished a programme and want to keep in contact. We introduce them to different organisations, so it’s not so daunting to start volunteering elsewhere. For the older young people, we have a monitored WhatsApp group as a safe space for them to stay connected and share information.”
Volunteering isn’t one-size-fits-all
Caroline: “Some people will be happy to commit one day a week for three years and make long-lasting friendships along the way. Others might only want to be involved in specific parts of your project like oral history work. It’s important to understand how different people want to contribute and what their needs and expectations are.”
Berny: “We couldn’t run our programmes without the help of volunteers. But the hard truth is that looking after volunteers can be challenging when you’re a small organisation. Consider carefully which types of volunteering best suits your project and your resources.”
How to apply for funding
Head to our funding pages for information on how to apply for a grant for your heritage project.
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Pride In Self, Pride In Place: the NHS and LGBTQ+ culture on the Isle of Wight
National Lottery Grants for Heritage – £10,000 to £250,000
Building on their first LGBTQ+ project, Out on an Island, StoneCrabs Theatre are continuing to record and share the community’s heritage to build inclusion and understanding.
The project is creating a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQ+ individuals to share their life experiences. Volunteers are gathering for monthly focus groups to receive oral history training and research LGBTQ+ history.
Working with the island’s NHS staff, their aim is to collect at least 15 oral histories from LGBTQ+ people connected to the island’s history. Seeking stories of daily life, the project is documenting the history of the Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, Sexual Health campaigns such as Captain Condom, and resources like the Isle of Wight Gay Guide.
The project aims to release the oral histories as a podcast and deposit them with archive collections at Carisbrooke Castle Museum and The Wessex Film & Sound archive.
Our funding is also helping StoneCrabs Theatre to:
- create resources for schools about LGBTQ+ history and inclusion
- create a digital heritage trail of the Isle of Wight’s LGBTQ+ history
- work with local museum partners on an exhibition of LGBTQ+ history and help re-interpret their collections through a diverse lens
Caroline Diamond, Project Manager, said: “We’re thrilled to have uncovered some amazing stories, and are looking forward to finding more. These stories can be rollercoasters of emotion, with joy in unexpected places. Their richness has inspired us to keep going, and are a powerful way to engage people with our work.”
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Sharing radical heritage demands a radical approach
Right now I’m leading a project to create an archive for the disability rights movement. Thanks to £840,000 in support from the Heritage Fund, we’re engaging new generations with the inspiring story of how the disabled community fought for the right to be fully included in society (and to some degree won).
Shape Arts is a disability-led arts organisation which works to improve access to culture for disabled people, known for successes like the National Disability Arts Collection and Archive (NDACA).
Our current project, the National Disability Movement Archive and Collection (NDMAC), will be making a splash in late 2025 to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act.
This Disability History Month I’d like to share my perspective on why disabled people’s heritage is so powerful at reaching new audiences.
The history of political activism is a perfect fit for our social media age
What we’re doing in collecting the disability movement’s heritage is capturing the story of a political movement that changed the law, achieved great things and created great culture.
We’ve already reached eight million people with the NDACA project because the story of the disability arts movement – and the way we tell that story – is fresh and genuine and responds to the age we’re in. We’ve been spontaneous and taken a radically digital campaign approach to engaging people with stories of action and resistance, because that’s what cuts through and speaks to younger generations. The pithy slogans of campaigners in the 1990s like ‘piss on pity’ connect in particular with those born-digital online users who use social media like it’s an extra limb!
Why does the NDMAC project to remember a 30-year-old fight for rights resonate with young generations today? I think nostalgia for the analogue age has some part in it, but the biggest factor has got to be that it’s a story of success. It shows that you can change the world for the better. My view is that if the crips can change the world, so can everyone! (I choose to use that term, crip, as a way of reclaiming its power and expressing my pride in being part of the disability activist community.)
Sharing stories that connect with people
As well as rapid, spontaneous storytelling through social media, we’ve also had success in our experiments with ‘slow movement’ filmmaking. We created 30 films from interviews with people talking about their experiences of the disability rights movement, which we filmed at their own pace and left largely unedited. It feels like you're sitting down for a chat with them, and people quickly made an emotional connection with the interviewees (even though these films could stretch to hours!).
We also went on a road trip, taking a van full of scanning equipment around the country to record disability activists' stories of hope and resistance, and their attics full of physical objects and documents. In digital formats it’s so much easier to share these stories online with everyone.
Disabled people’s experiences tell powerful stories of hope
Why does the politics of the past matter, disabled people say to me, when the politics of today should demand all our attention? Isn’t it ironic at best, a sick joke at worst, to be celebrating the stories of a previous generation of campaigners when life is hard for many people with disabilities? We fought for the bus to be accessible, but now some of us struggle to afford it.
Simply put, it’s about hope. It does sometimes feel dissonant to tell a story about disabled people’s empowerment when some people today are struggling to cope, but we need to do it.
We need to tell people about how disabled people changed the world because we need powerful stories to inspire future generations. And if we don’t record those stories now, they’ll be lost forever.
Get funding to protect and share disability heritage
At the Heritage Fund, we are committed to involving a more diverse range of people in heritage, and helping organisations to remove barriers to access and participation.
Take a look at inspirational projects we’ve funded run by disabled people or delving into the history of disability in the UK.
About David Hevey
David Hevey has decades of lived experience of disability and is a wide-ranging and prolific arts and culture professional. As a photographer, filmmaker, CEO, artistic and project director, he uses art and creative media as a vehicle for social change.
- Views expressed in the blogs we publish are those of the authors, not necessarily of the Heritage Fund.
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Creating an archive for historic disability rights movement
The disability rights movement was integral to achieving the Disability Discrimination Act in 1995, which transformed the rights and changed the lives of disabled people.
Many people with a disability played a part in this historic achievement, but their stories are at risk of being lost forever if they aren’t documented and archived.
Creating a legacy and archive
Through the National Disability Movement Archive and Collection project, Shape Arts will record and digitise important social history and heritage stories during the four-year programme. Thanks to an £840,000 National Lottery grant, an accessible and interactive website will:
- digitise and preserve collections of key figures from the movement
- build an e-learning portal with a full suite of accessible assets including games, magazines and graphic novels for younger audiences
- catalogue and create an extensive collection of oral history films
The disability rights movement was integral to change and documenting this in the most inclusive manner will make sure that these currently hidden histories are there forever.
Stuart McLeod, Director of England, London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Alongside the website, a walk-in learning zone will be created at Peckham Library. In 2025, a Routemaster ‘Off the bus tour’ will visit locations throughout the UK, including rural areas, to tell the stories through a mobile cinema.
Stuart McLeod, Director of England, London & South at the Heritage Fund, said: “The disability rights movement was integral to change and by documenting this in the most inclusive manner will make sure that these currently hidden histories are there forever. This will help us all to learn more about each other and our differing personal lives, experiences and memories."
Memories shared for the first time
Some of the collections and personal accounts to be preserved will be available to access for the first time and include some key figures from the historic movement:
- The Keith Armstrong collection – Armstrong’s personal campaigns ranged from fighting for accessible transport to begging in the streets for income to cover his personal assistance costs. A collection of Armstrong’s activist materials was created following his death in 2019.
- The Agnes Fletcher and Adam Thomas collection – The couple met on rights demonstrations and have a wealth of memorabilia including huge, handmade protest banners.
- The Penny Pepper diaries – Pepper was a long-time rights activist and kept diaries of her day-to-day fights for access and inclusion from the 1980s to the present.
- The Allan Sutherland collection – Sutherland was a leading activist from the early 1980s and was lead media officer on the Block Telethon demonstrations.
- The Le Court Film Unit – A collection of 1960s films from the beginning of the modern rights movement.
- The Blast TV oral history interviews – Accounts from key players in the movement from the 1970s onwards, including Baroness Jane Campbell, Alia Hassan, John Evans and Micheline Mason.
Exploring disability arts and heritage
This project will build on the success of the established National Disability Arts Collection & Archive (NDACA) which was created by Shape Arts in 2018 with support from the Heritage Fund.
Since NDACA was created, more than 8 million people have engaged with the website to learn about the heritage story of the UK disability arts movement.
This project will continue to explore disability heritage, bringing to life the unique perspectives and experiences of disabled people during the movement for disability rights in the UK.
Baroness Jane Campbell, patron and an active voice in this civil rights movement, said: “The project will celebrate transforming society's response to disabled people from medical cure or segregated services to one of a civil right to be fully included in society as equal citizens.”
Find out more
At the Heritage Fund, we believe everyone should be able to benefit from our funding. Discover more about our commitment to investing in disability heritage.
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Inclusion isn't a 'challenge', it's a chance for exciting possibilities
Page last updated: 12 July 2022
What challenges do disabled leaders in the heritage world face at the moment?
Zoe:
These so-called "challenges" can be radically improved and removed by encouraging the heritage world to employ and commission disabled experts.
Funding is often cited as another barrier. It is used to continue to exclude disabled people as audiences or employees or decision makers but in practice this is just an excuse.
For example, if all your staff use sign language then communication is improved and you don't need to buy in interpreters. We tend to place the emphasis on disabled people but it shouldn't be like this.
Becki:
One particular challenge for me is how generally the heritage world can be hyper focused on particular topics and is in a continual loop of discussion and not enough action. This means there is a consistent need to keep highlighting the importance of working as inclusively as possible.
The Disability Collaborative Network is now part of EMBED, which is a way of sharing things we have learned from other sectors and industries. By making positive, meaningful, inclusive change, we can create a better, more proactive sector.
What is your advice for any disability-led group or organisation interested in applying for our funding?
Zoe:
You need to be passionate about your project. But you don’t have to change. Disabled leaders have unique skills including tenacity, strength, determination and spend all their lives negotiating barriers.
My advice would be to ensure you use the social model of disability to highlight that disabled people are not "the problem". Inaccessible environments, buildings, collections, archives and recruitment and employment procedures exclude us. If you understand where the problem lies you can remove it and make informed progress.
Becki:
Firstly, it’s important that groups' work and experience is recognised at the pre-planning stage, during the project and at the end. Also, that the project itself is part of a wider strategy for all the organisations involved.
Innovative creative thinking and processes should be recognised and need to be shared as far as possible.
As disabled women leaders, can you share any knowledge or advice you wish you'd had 10 years ago?
Zoe:
Yes, I wish I'd had a mentor, I think a disabled woman in a senior position working in the heritage sector would have been invaluable as a mentor.
Change happens due to who is in charge and what experience they may have. This is why it is so important that inclusion is everyone's main priority.
Becki
The crucial thing I've learned is that my unique skills - because I have lived experience as a disabled woman and have observed discrimination in action - are a very valuable asset. I have found that even large institutions feel that you should offer your experience and expertise for free in focus groups or as an advisor. It's a constant battle to be paid and valued.
Becki:
I wish I had known that who engages with heritage and who doesn't is often in the hands of the heritage sites themselves. For example, there are children who want to visit museums but can’t due to lack of Changing Places toilets.
Change happens due to who is in charge and what experience they may have. This is why it is so important that inclusion is everyone's main priority.
Find out more
Find out more about:
- UK Disability History Month
- Disability Collaborative Network
- Zoe Partington
- DisOrdinary Architecture Project
- Sensing Culture
At The National Lottery Heritage Fund we are proud to fund all sorts of inspiring projects led by disabled people. Find out how you can get funding for your idea.
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A missing voice - the young person in the museum
I have thought a lot about where and how there can be a space for young people in museums.
As part of the Digital Maker Club, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund's Kick the Dust programme, a group of young people (including me) were brought into the Ulster Museum and over several weeks, we learned how to use a range of digital technologies.
Alongside this, we were encouraged to interact with museum collections and we met with curators. This meant that we were able to digitally create something in response to our own national heritage.
By the end of the project, we had enough creations to host an exhibition.
Telling a new story of The Troubles
I was inspired by one of the main exhibitions in the Ulster Museum, about The Troubles. The exhibition's curator, Karen Logan, encouraged us to explore and discuss the collection.
One of its strengths was that it was able to include multiple narratives, not only those of Unionists and Nationalists, in telling social history, like the first Pride festival in Belfast and women's writing groups. However, there did seem to be a missing voice - that of the young person.
I identified the gap of young voices and that the exhibition didn't connect the history of The Troubles to the subsequent social and political landscape of Northern Ireland today. I felt that if a tourist visited this exhibition, they would not grasp the aftermath of The Troubles and what that means for Northern Ireland at present.
The project gave me the opportunity to try and create a space for this missing voice. So I decided to exhibit a series on what the main issues were facing young people in Northern Ireland today.
Sabi, a friend I met on the project, took stunning, abstract photos from around Belfast and I interviewed young people from a range of different backgrounds. Their answers illuminated and lamented issues such as:
- mental health problems
- the oppression of LGBT+ rights and women's reproductive rights
- Brexit
- segregated schooling
- the absence of our government and how Green and Orange politics continue to hold us back
Tech can help revolutionise the museum
From my experience and observing others on the project, I think that, as well as being able to bring young people into the museum, technology provides a new way for them to think about their place in it.
Technology can offer a new paradigm.
The museum is (or should be) an inherently interactive space (with or without tech) but using interactive technology reminds us of this. Being given technological tools to create something as a response to the collections energised me to respond to it thoughtfully, creatively, critically.
I didn't necessarily need tech to make my part of the exhibition, but being part of the Digital Maker Club and having my ideas listened to, encouraged and facilitated, inspired me to do so.
It is through interaction that the visitor makes meaning from objects and collections. The museum should not merely be a system of knowledge which we can passively accept meaning from. Introducing technology can help revolutionise the way we see the museum, kicking the dust from our perceptions of an old, hierarchical system of acquiring knowledge.
I think that it is this outlook, as much as the technology itself, which has the potential to draw young people in to the museum and make it an inclusive, engaging space.
Find out more
Niamh has written a longer blog on the Reimagine Remake Replay website.
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Helping all young people get hands on with nature
London Wildlife Trust’s Keeping it Wild programme helps young people aged 11-25 gain skills for life while conserving the city's wild spaces.
Trainees undertake three-month paid internships at a London Wildlife Trust site. They have the chance to join the Youth Forum, which advises the Trust’s board on how to really embed youth engagement. It plays a vital role in planning, managing and evaluating the project so that it meets the needs of young people.
We visited Sydenham Hill Wood, south London, on a Wild Action Day. Despite heavy rain, the dedicated trainees showed their passion for conservation by sticking out the day until its waterlogged end.
Trainee Jess said she thought the programme was about: “increasing opportunities for young people who may not have had the chance to experience the natural sector. It’s not the most diverse and many people think it’s not for them.”
Using nature for wellbeing
The day was guided by The Wheel of Wellbeing. Developed by the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, The Wheel of Wellbeing offers practical tips to improve your wellbeing by considering Body, Mind, Spirit, People, Place and Planet.
Find out more on the Wheel of Wellbeing website.
Body
"Be active... Your body is designed to move. Physical activities can positively influence the way you think, feel and function."
We met Lee as he sawed through fallen branches to be used as path edges. He told us: "I never had the breaks, I left school with few qualifications. But this has really been a great opportunity, it is great what they are doing across London.”
Mind
"Keep learning... Studies are showing that life-long learners are some of the healthiest, happiest people around."
While removing duckweed from the pond, we scooped up a discarded dragonfly nymph shell . We learned that both dragonfly nymphs and dragonflies are carnivorous - the nymph's prey-crunching jaw was the inspiration for the Alien films!
Spirit
"Give... Practicing random acts of kindness, volunteering time, or simply saying ‘thank you’ all work wonders for your wellbeing."
Here's Chantelle laying new path edges using fallen branches, fastening them with axe-whittled stakes and wire. We found out that following on from her time with Keeping it Wild, she is about to start a new job as project officer for the Great North Wood Project at London Wildlife Trust.
People
"Connect... Close relationships with friends and family can add up to seven years to our lives. So plan a get-together to connect more with the people around you."
A crackling camp fire had two benefits: cooking homemade calzone pizzas and drying everyone off! The team gathered around for a chat over a much-needed hot drink.
Planet
"Care... Keeping our planet in tip-top shape is the best recipe for world wellbeing. Small positive changes can make a big difference."
We met Calum clearing duckweed from the wood’s Dewy Pond so that oxygen can reach the life below. The release of sulphuric acid generated a questionable odour, but Calum said: “I’d rather be here in the rain with a funky smell than be on my sofa at home." The traineeship solidified his passion for nature, and he’ll soon be studying British Wildlife Conservation at Gloucester University.
Place
"Take notice... Noticing nature helps us press the pause button. It reduces the stress of our 21st-century ‘hurry-worry’ lives."
Ishmael’s interest in mindfulness lead the team to ask if he could lead an exercise to finish off the day. He told us that mindfulness can combat “unnecessary rumination and unhelpful thoughts, so you can stay more in the present. The sounds and sensations can be more nuanced in nature."
He encouraged fellow trainees to “shut your eyes, distinguish five sounds: this could be the rain coming down, the birds, the breeze occasionally rolling past."
We're feeling better already...
About the project
Keeping It Wild is part of the National Lottery-funded Kick the Dust programme, a series of 12 projects across the UK which are putting young people at the heart of heritage.
London Wildlife Trust is leading on the programme with support and expertise from:
- London Youth
- Headliners (UK)
- John Muir Trust
Funding for natural heritage and projects that involve a wider range of people are both priorities for The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Find out more about what we want your project to achieve.
Ways to meaningfully involve young people in heritage
Making heritage relevant to more – and more diverse – young people, is important to The National Lottery Hertiage Fund. That's why we set up Kick the Dust, a £10million pilot programme to explore new ways of working with young people.
In summer 2019, we held a workshop to gather the ideas learned so far from organisations that received funding.
Top tips on involving young people in heritage
- Organisations may find it useful to think about who makes decisions internally – and consider how young people can be involved in those decisions.
- Work out who in your organisation might be enthusiastic about your project and want to help.
- Think about how to create safe discussion spaces for young people.
- A trustee or CEO could meet and discuss ideas with the young people at their meetings, rather than the young person having to attend a trustee meeting – which could be intimidating.
- Consider having training for staff, and CEO briefings run by young people about young people.
- Young people need different routes of progression within your organisation.
- Young people can inform adults too; it’s a two-way relationship.
- Think about time commitments: young people have complex and busy lives and may not want to be involved all the time – or at all.
- Don’t impose your own agenda, stay flexible and exploratory.
- Question your assumptions and the language you use.
- Evaluate internal structures. For example, if you want to involve young people in a board meeting, holding it at 2pm might not be the best time if they have school, college or work.
- Consider leadership and life skills guidance for young people as part of the project.
Learning from case studies
Every project that attended the workshop brought along an object that represented an activity or method they have successfully used to engage young people.
Norfolk Museums Service Norfolk Journeys project: clay sculpture
They said: “We’ve been working with young people involved in the criminal justice system on a project about mark making, creating marks and thinking about the marks we leave on society.
"We have found that young people want to engage with the project, but don’t always know how.”
Don’t Settle project: image of young people on visit to Migration Museum
They said: “We are looking at neglected narratives of cultures and have been setting up a youth committee. We have been thinking about the question: ‘what do young people of colour bring to the board room?'”.
Ignite Yorkshire: logo, newly designed with young people
“Young people wrote the brief and mission statement. It’s important that co-creation is authentic and genuine.”
The Y, Leicester: paper money
“We found that some young people were interested in money, so we gave them their own budget. Young people commissioned their own project, and heritage organisations presented ideas to them 'Dragon’s Den' style.”
Find out more
You can read more about the scheme in our Kick The Dust Evaluation.
We want to hear from marginalised voices
Page last updated: 12 July 2022
This weekend marks the end of our inaugural LGBTQ+ season celebrating the many great heritage projects, community groups and organisations we’ve funded over the past 25 years.
It has been a privilege to be involved in this inaugural season and to play a small part in The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s support for LGBTQ+ heritage.
Marginalised people should be given the chance to rewrite and problematise our existing understanding of heritage.
Lesley Wood and David Sheppeard
The season was timed to coincide with Pride events throughout the UK, and to celebrate 50 years since the Stonewall riots in New York.
It is also a representation of our commitment that the National Lottery players’ money we invest ensures that a wider range of people will be involved in heritage.
Rewriting our understanding of heritage
I hope that like me, you’ve been inspired by some of the incredible stories we’ve shared over the past two months.
Even more, I hope that you’ll be inspired to bring your project forward for support.
What has struck me the most has been the range of voices we’ve heard. Hearing from marginalised groups directly, especially minorities within minorities, is so vital.
I thought it was summed up brilliantly by Lesley Wood and David Sheppeard, two LGBTQ+ sector leaders collaborating on the National Lottery-funded Building Brighton LGBTQ+ Heritage. They said: “Marginalised people should be given the chance to rewrite and problematise our existing understanding of heritage, even if this makes the sector or institutions feel uncomfortable at times.
“It shouldn't be about trying to fit marginalised people into existing historical paradigms and ideas – the sector can be braver and more radical, because this is what needs to happen if history is going reflect anything like reality.”
Supporting our LGBTQ+ heritage community
In my opening blog I talked about the importance of the intersection between inclusion and heritage and how our past is critical to our sense of identity and belonging today.
This notion has been brought to life by our brilliant contributors – people who have played a part not just in enriching our heritage, but in literally making history.
We’re looking forward to continuing to support them and the LGBTQ+ heroes of the future.
If you have an idea for a project, big or small, take a look at our funding page or get in touch with your friendly local team to see what we can offer you.
What's next?
Given that the LGBTQ+ rights movement was kickstarted 50 years ago by a group of black trans women and drag queens at the Stonewall Inn, it seems fitting that our next inclusion focus will explore the heritage of diverse ethnic communities.
I’m excited that in a few weeks’ time we’ll be celebrating Black History Month and making the case for why diverse ethnic community inclusion is so important to the future of heritage. And equally, how heritage can help deliver a more inclusive world for us all.
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In the fight for equality, understanding our heritage matters
Today marks 50 years since the Stonewall riots. It was an event which sparked the modern LGBT+ rights movement and inspired a generation.
28 June 1969
On 28 June 1969, the New York Police Department (NYPD) launched a raid on the Stonewall Inn in New York City. It was the latest in a series of raids targeting LGBT+ bars and community spaces, part of a long-term campaign of police persecution and intimidation against a community still forced to live in the shadows.
This raid was different though. When a young woman, Stormé DeLarverie, complained that her handcuffs were too tight, she was brutally clubbed over the head by the officer who arrested her.
It was an indignity too far for the crowd that night. Leading the charge were Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson, two young drag queens who had long been at the forefront of the LGBT+ rights movement in New York. They threw bottles and resisted arrest, and together with the other patrons of the Stonewall Inn, fought back in a pitched battle with the NYPD that would last for several days.
What happened in New York on that hot summer night in 1969 inspired a movement.
In the UK, the legacy includes Pride, the Gay Liberation Front, Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners and eventually the birth of the charity that bears its name, Stonewall. In 50 years, progress has been hard won, but relatively rapid.
Most of the UK now enjoys full LGBT+ legal equality, and sometimes it can be easy to forget that legal and social equality are not the same thing.
We have come so far, but there is still so much left to do
The news earlier this month that homophobic and transphobic hate crime has rocketed in England and Wales over the past five years is a stark reminder. Reported incidents of hate crime per capita rose 144%. Yes, better reporting is part of the reason, but as any openly LGBT+ person will tell you, the world doesn’t always feel massively welcoming right now.
How do we tackle this? I think that heritage is part of the answer.
Heritage is so important to increasing visibility and driving social progress. We take inspiration from our forebears and the things that have been passed on to us, but we also draw a sense of belonging. And that is so important for minority communities who struggle for acceptance and who are all too often invisible in our national discourse.
As an LGBT+ person, the issue of heritage and belonging is politically important, but it’s also intensely personal.
I know that so many of the rights and freedoms I take for granted were hard won by the likes of Stormé and Sylvia and Marsha, and I know too that I have a duty to future generations to be visible and brave and uncompromising when it comes to demanding inclusion for everyone.
We all stand on the shoulders of giants, and we can only hope to honour their example. As I raise my children, I want them to see that we all belong, not just in spite of who we love, but because of it.
A commitment to inclusion
Our current Strategic Funding Framework makes inclusion a mandatory outcome and prioritises community heritage. Our LGBT+ season is about bringing that commitment to life and showcasing the impact that National Lottery funding has had on shaping a more progressive and inclusive UK.
To date we have funded over 130 projects through grants worth more than £5.5million. Over the next 25 years I hope we can do so much more – and demonstrate the value of that contribution by delivering a more inclusive world.
I’m excited that we’re going to be hearing from diverse voices over the course of our LGBT+ season, from Joseph Galliano of Queer Britain to Veronica McKenzie of the BAME LGBT+ project Haringey Vanguard, and lots of other grantees across the UK in between.
Heritage matters – it’s as much about the future we want as about the past that we honour.
Six women: stories of our LGBT+ heritage
Margaret Lucas Cavendish
1623–1673
Born in Colchester to an aristocratic family, Margaret went on to marry William Cavendish, Marquess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, who was more than 30 years her senior. A prolific writer, she published the 1668 play The Convent of Pleasure.
The play told the story of Lady Happy, an heiress who resists all male suitors and turns her home into an all-female monastic institution. Lady Happy falls in love with a princess “of truly masculine presence”, and declares:
“Why may I not love a woman with the same affection as I could a man?”
- Margaret Cavendish's life was explored by the Derbyshire-based Other Stories project.
Vera "Jack" Holme
1881–1969
Born in 1881, Vera “Jack” Holme lead an exciting and unconventional life. By her 20s she was an actress and singer, including as a cross-dressing music hall act where she used the stagename “Jack”.
She went on to join a group of singing suffragettes, and became chauffeur to the Pankhursts.
During the First World War she was an ambulance driver. In 1918 she began an affair with Scottish artist Dorothy Johnstone, whose work appears at Kirkcudbright Art Gallery.
- Jack was featured in the People's History Museum's Never Going Underground project.
Joe Carstairs
1900–1993
The dynamic Marion Barbara "Joe" Carstairs was an oil heiress who became a champion motorboat racer. A proud lesbian, she wore tailored suits from Savile Row, cut her hair short and tattooed her arms. Her partners included Dolly Wilde - Oscar Wilde's niece - and Marlene Dietrich.
In the 1930s “the fastest woman on water” came to the Isle of Wight where she commissioned powerboats from the boatbuilder Sammy Saunders.
- The National Lottery-funded Classic Boat Museum on the Isle of Wight holds the Carstairs Collection.
Enid Marx
1902–1998
Designer and painter Enid Marx is best known for her love of abstract and geometric patterns, particularly her work designing seating fabric and posters for London Transport, as well as books, wrapping paper and logos.
Known as “Marco”, Enid lived and worked with the historian Margaret Lambert for 50 years, with whom she shared a love of art.
- The Marx-Lambert Collection is held by the National Lottery-funded Compton Verney and The National Lottery Heritage Fund supported a recent project at the London Transport Museum which discovered a lost Enid Marx design.
Roberta Cowell
1918–2011
Roberta Cowell was a racing driver and pilot who was the first known British person to undergo male-to-female sex reassignment surgery.
She was born Robert Cowell in Croydon in 1918. She went on to become a racing driver, get married and have children. During the war, she was a Spitfire pilot and was captured by the Germans. In 1948, deeply unhappy, she left the family and went on to have the sex reassignment surgery. She continued to fly planes and drive racing cars.
- The National Lottery-funded Egham Museum recently devoted an exhibition to Roberta Cowell.
Sandi Hughes
1943–present
Sandi Hughes was born in Bristol to a white British mother and black American GI father. She was brought up in children's homes and married in 1963, going on to have three daughters and a son. The marriage broke up - and when Sandi applied for custody, she was judged to be an "unfit mother" because she was gay. Sandi went on to become a much-loved linchpin of the Liverpool gay scene, and a feminist film-maker, poet and DJ.
In 2015, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supported Liverpool Records Office and National Museums Liverpool's purchase of her rare archive of photos, videos and other memorabilia.
Find out more on the Rewind Fast Forward website.
