Our past work in London
In 2017 Consortium led a partnership of LGBT+ Groups and academics in exploring the needs of LGBT+ Londoners. That project, and subsequent report Still Out There, revealed a picture of inequality and limited access to services for LGBT People in London.
That piece of work led to a number of projects 2017-2022, details of which are outlined below. Due to the pandemic, many of these pieces of work had to evolve or pivot and they all fed into our current activity in London.
LGBT+ London Online Learning and Training
Thanks to funding from the City Bridge Trust and the National Community Lottery Fund we were able to offer a range of specific training for LGBT+ groups and organisations based in London.
Always Out There: Mapping and Capacity Building
Always Out There was a three year project, that had two aims, to map support and services for LGBT+ in London and to work with a range of LGBT+ groups and stakeholders to fill the gaps that have been identified through the mapping process.
Throughout this project LGBT HERO have led on creating, populating and managing an online directory/mapping tool of LGBT services in London. You can find the FindOut map here
Consortium have focused on providing capacity-building support to LGBT voluntary and community organisations across London so that they can address the gaps highlighted by the mapping work.
In this final stage of the project, Consortium will be focusing on filling some of those gaps and this will happen in two main ways,
- by working with LGBT+ Groups to help them design and, where possible, deliver new or extended services to fill the gaps identified.
- by working with commissioners and funders to develop their understanding of how a lack of LGBT+ services needs to be addressed
We continue to offer general support to all our London-based Members.
The London Team:
Our London Engagement Lead, Marita, works 5 days a week as part of the Consortium’s existing Engagement team.
Our Trans Organisations Network Officer, Violet (she/her) and Racial Justice Engagement Officer, Nikita (she/they), work 3 days a week to support our trans-led and racial justice focused Members to thrive.
Marita acts as our key contact for our Membership across London supporting them with a range of issues (e.g. good governance & financial accountability) to enabling all LGBT+ voices to be heard. Please email Marita to find out more.
Home: LGBT+ Sector Sharing Assets
Home: an innovative partnership of 9 London based LGBT+ charities that aimed to scale up and join up LGBT+ services and support in the capital to address inequalities in health, wealth, opportunities and rights.
HOME had three main work streams:
- Assets – We worked together to move towards co-location of the HOME charity partners across the capital to create sustainable, joined up services and accessible spaces for the LGBT+ community.
- Fundraising – We worked together to identify opportunities to raise additional funds for the sector in order to scale up the services and support available to LGBT+ Londoners.
- Voice – We worked together to develop joint messages and policy calls to raise awareness of the needs of the LGBT+ community and the charity sector that represents it.
The Partnership consisted of nine organisations:
- ELOP
- GALOP
- Gendered Intelligence
- HERO
- Switchboard - LGBT+ Helpline
- Mosaic LGBT+ Youth Centre
- London Friend
- Stonewall Housing
- Consortium
The London LGBT+ HOME Partnership was incubated and overseen by Consortium.
NetEquality
Grass roots equality groups and equality partners in London worked together to design, test and pilot exciting new ways to use online tools to strengthen connections and quickly and easily share information and knowledge.
Funded by National Community Lottery Fund and led by Hear Equality, Consortium worked with a range of partners including Inclusion London and The Refugee Council The aim of the project was to co-produce a system that uses digital tools to build and strengthen networks across equalities, enabling better opportunities for collaboration, campaigning and solidarity.
London LGBTIQA+ Housing Manifesto
There is a chronic lack of provision of LGBTIQA+ community housing in London reflecting an absence of understanding the specific issues, needs and disadvantages facing many LGBTIQA+ citizens. We worked with our members Stonewall Housing, akt, The Outside project, Micro Rainbow and Stonewall to create a LGBTIQA+ Housing manifesto for the 2020 Mayoral election in London.
The manifesto highlighted some of the pressing challenges for LGBT+ Londoners and recommended actions for the prospective next Mayor of London to commit to that could make a significant difference to the lives of the most disadvantaged LGBTIQA+ people in the Capital.
It showed an understanding and commitment to LGBTIQA+ citizens that goes far beyond the City Hall Pride reception.
You can read the manifesto here
Still Out There: A Study into the Unmet Needs of LGBT+ People and Communities in London
In 2016 Consortium, funded by Trust For London, led a exploration of the needs of LGBT+ Londoners.
Research carried out by Anglia Ruskin University led to the project publishing a full report on the unmet needs along with a series of recommendations.
The research presented a worrying picture for many LGBT+ individuals accessing both specialist and mainstream services, despite great strides in LGBT rights. The study highlighted and confirmed our growing concerns around prejudice, safety and poverty.
It was this research that inspired both Always Out There and Home, both of which worked to address the long standing problems evidenced by Still Out There with innovative community led solutions
Download the full Still Out There Report here