The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is committed to helping support projects that investigate the richness and diversity of LGBT+ history and experience.

This week we kick off a campaign of events and blogs aimed at not-for-profit organisations across the South East looking to explore, commemorate and share the history of LGBT+ communities and their experiences. This is timed to coincide with BBC’s Gay Britannia season – see the BBC’s website for more on Making heritage part of society’s conversation about equality.

In the South East, thanks to National Lottery players, HLF funding has already helped support a range of projects and organisations, from Reading group Support U’s oral history project Hidden Voices to Queer in Brighton’s LGBTQ+ history club.

The Centre for Fashion Curation at University of the Arts London is running the Wear It Out project in partnership with Brighton and Hove Museum, while Oxford University Museums are running a series of events through the Out in Oxford project.

And we are also supporting young people aged 11-25 to explore LGBT+ heritage, working with Y Services in Hampshire, Blueprint 22 in Coastal Sussex and Photoworks in Brighton.

Could your organisation be the next one to receive an HLF grant award?

Find out how to apply at one of our events

Whether you are an established local group or a new organisation, we want to help more people learn about LGBT+ heritage, and support a wide range of organisations to apply for our funding. Please come along to one of our events to learn more.

14 September, 6-8.30pm, Reading Museum: Funding for LGBT+ History Projects – Advice and Networking Evening

A free evening event with presentations on projects and resources from Support U, the Berkshire Record Office and Out in Oxford (the University of Oxford’s first cross-collections trail, created with the LGBT+ community), as well as advice on how to apply for funding from HLF. Food and drink will be provided. Find out more information and book via the Eventbrite page.

23 October, 11am-4pm, London Metropolitan Archives

This is a free daytime event run in collaboration with our colleagues in HLF’s London team. Details are to be confirmed, but participants will have a chance to learn more about the archives’ LGBT+ collections and learn about funding opportunities from HLF.

Plus more events to follow! Check back on the South East England Information and Advice Sessions page for further dates and the opportunity to book.

Sharing Experiences

Our website and Online Community are packed with information about projects we've funded across the UK, and over the next few months we will be publishing a series of blogs by individuals, reflecting on their experience of applying to HLF and sharing stories of the LGBT+ heritage they explored.