National Lottery Heritage Grants £10,000 to £250,000
In 1974, eight years before homosexuality was decriminalised in Northern Ireland, Cara-Friend began offering befriending and support services to members of the LGBTQ+ community. The organisation provided a vital lifeline to thousands of individuals at a time when LGBTQ+ people faced widespread prejudice.
This project is preserving and sharing the story of the charity’s early days in the 1970s and 1980s. It aims to shine a spotlight on the people who helped establish the organisation through:
- a photographic exhibition
- audio-visual story sharing interviews
- intergenerational letter-writing workshops
Materials gathered during the project will be made publicly available and will be provided to the Public Records Office, The Linen Hall Library, Kent State University and National Museums NI.
Steve Williamson, Director of Cara-Friend, said: “This vital project means that at-risk heritage about the formation and development of Cara-Friend will be collected, preserved, exhibited and used for the purposes of education for years to come. This will ensure the story of Cara-Friend’s legacy of activism is not lost to time.”
The exhibition, featuring portraits by photographer Timothy O’Connell, runs from 3–28 February 2025 at The Linen Hall, Belfast.
