The London LGBT Voluntary and Community Sector Almanac

172 Pages·2011·8.05 MB·English

The
London LGBT
Voluntary and
Community Sector
Almanac
1st Edition
Kairos
in Soho
Published by Kairos in Soho
Unit 1, 10 – 11 Archer Street
Soho
London W1D 7AZ
020 7437 6063
www.kairosinsoho.org.uk
Registered Charity Number 1054152
Company Number 3168854
Published January 2011
© Kairos in Soho
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of
Kairos in Soho.
ISBN 978-0-9558780-3-9
FOREWORD
It is rare indeed to find such a comprehensive and thorough analysis
of an equalities sector, in this case the diverse London lesbian, gay,
bisexual and trans (LGBT) voluntary and community sector, that at
the same time captures some of the challenges and liveliness of a
population of organisations driven by the notion of common identity
and the need for social reform.
To quote Sara Llewellin, Chief Executive of the Barrow Cadbury Trust
and Vice Chair of the Association of Charitable Foundations, who
spoke at a recent ‘In Our Name’ Funding Network Meeting:
‘I started to read the funding section of the LGBT Almanac and after a
few minutes began to lose the will to live! Let’s cut to the chase. What it
says, in as fancy a way as possible, is that LGBT organisations don’t have
much money. And much of what they have is self-generated. Well, what
a surprise! But why is that a positive note? Because if a sector can bring
about as much change as this one has with so little money, it must be
incredibly strong.’
The findings of the Almanac are astonishing and clear in describing
a sector that stays positive despite working disproportionately
hard to achieve massive amounts within a precarious and marginal
economy. This annual publication, it is hoped, will begin to act as an
irrefutable benchmark to encourage diversification of that economy
and increased external leverage across the board for better
resources.
Jane Standing
Chief Executive Officer
Kairos in Soho
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The
Almanac
ii
CONTENTS
Foreword i
Acknowledgements 1
Section 1: Executive Summary 3
Section 2: In Our Name Statement 15
Section 3: Introduction 17
Section 4: Context 21
Section 5: Methodology 25
Section 6: Sector analysis - The ‘When’ 29
Section 7: Organisation profiles, A-M 31
Section 8a: The ‘What’ 61
Section 8b: The ‘Why’ 63
Section 8c: The ‘How’ 71
Section 8d: Finance and funding 95
Section 9: Organisation profiles, N-Z 113
Section 10: The ‘Where’ 137
Section 11: The ‘Who’ 139
Section 12: Reflection and looking ahead 149
Section 13: Research and publications 153
Section 14: Conclusion 159
Section 15: References 161
Feedback form 163
The
Almanac
Photo: Ajamu X
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Kairos in Soho (KiS) and the In Our Name (ION) partners
(London Friend, PACE and The Metro Centre) would like to say
a huge thank you to all of the LGBT organisations who took the
time to complete the Almanac Questionnaire.
Thanks also to all those who wrote the amazing articles on
‘Engagement: Building inclusive LGBT communities’ that you
will find in these pages.
Thank you to those who helped us to test the Almanac
Questionnaire to ensure that it was appropriate for a wide range
of LGBT organisations.
Thanks to all across the sector who have contributed ideas,
enthusiasm and inspiration for the Almanac’s development
as part of the ION project, at the ION launch event, the
ION Learning Network meetings, Funding Network, and in
communication with KiS elsewhere in a whole range of ways.
Thank you sincerely to Ajamu for being a constant source of
inspiration and support in all of our work.
Thank you to the Consortium of LGBT VCOs, particularly
Megan Harrison and Mark Delacour, for sharing their
information and promoting the Almanac Questionnaire.
Thank you to Giovanna Speciale for amazing support and
assistance with data analysis and to Jane Henderson for copy
editing.
1
The
Almanac
Thank you to David Pilkington for your dedicated support in
KiS and the ION including D/deaf LGBT organisations in the Almanac project.
partners (London
Thanks also to Ju Gosling for providing helpful references and
Friend, PACE and information.
The Metro Centre)
Thank you to John Lewis and Happy Computers for offering
would like to say
prizes for a draw to encourage completion of the Almanac
a huge thank you Questionnaire.
to all of the LGBT
Ashlee Christoffersen, from Kairos in Soho, who designed the
organisations
project framework and is the author of the text, bar the articles,
who took the has done an inspirational, highly efficient job of summarising
and describing the work and experience of organisations that
time to complete
have taken part. Thank you to all Kairos in Soho staff who have
the Almanac
worked hard to make the Almanac possible.
Questionnaire.
Finally, thank you to all those in the LGBT community, across
the voluntary and community sector, and working on equalities
in London’s local authorities, who helped us to promote the
Almanac Questionnaire in order to capture the full spectrum of
London LGBT organising across diversity.

Articles: Engagement: Building inclusive LGBT
communities
Darren Peters, Individual 65
Jay Stewart, Co-founder, Gendered Intelligence 67
Ajamu X, Co-founder, rukus! Federation Ltd. 74
Parminder Sekhon, Deputy Chief Executive, Naz Project
London 77
Bob Green, Chief Executive, Stonewall Housing 80
David Bigglestone, Paris Queer Youth Network 82
Jay Bernard, Poet and KiS Friend 84
Mubin Haq, Director of Policy and Grants, Trust for London 110
2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Section 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The aim of the Almanac is to provide up-to-date statistical and
The Almanac strategic information about the diverse LGBT voluntary and
community sector (VCS) in London, so that LGBT voluntary and
provides up-to-
community organisations (VCOs) can envision their strategic
date statistical context and access an information base for planning and
development; and so that diverse LGBT organisations, funders
and strategic
and infrastructure can argue for better resources.
information about
the diverse LGBT The Almanac grew out of Phase One of London’s LGBT
Voluntary Sector Infrastructure Project (PiP) conducted by
voluntary and
Kairos in Soho (KiS) in 2006/7. The Almanac is one component
community sector
of the In Our Name (ION) project, which is managed by KiS
in London. and delivered in partnership with London Friend, PACE and
the Metro Centre. The overriding philosophy of the project
is to encourage organisations to reflect together on practice
and experience, and to invest long-term in creating a more
sustainable and nurturing environment for diverse LGBT
community action and LGBT people.
ION is a unique infrastructure model developed within the
community to ensure that diverse LGBT VCOs are supported to
better deliver their missions. It aims to achieve the following:
• An increase in the overall income of the sector and
London LGBT VCOs individually.
• Greater LGBT input into policy development in London.
• An increase in levels of awareness of LGBT issues
amongst funders and infrastructure organisations.
• A more connected and supported sector working
strategically to improve the experience of LGBT Londoners.
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The
Almanac
The Almanac is part of a body of research on aspects of the
VCS. The research was undertaken at a critical juncture for the
VCS, politically and economically. At the time of writing there
is little to no available analysis of how the economic context
will affect community of identity organisations specifically -
organisations already marginalised and under-funded within
the VCS. We know that times of growing economic inequality
can give rise to increased discrimination and marginalisation
as well as resistance to equalities interests and aspirations. Yet
this particular time offers an opportunity to LGBT VCOs to do
what the sector does best, which is to work collaboratively, and
to celebrate the intelligence, inspiration and diversity within the
sector.
The sample for this report comprises 89 organisations which,
The sample
by self-definition, specifically serve or represent lesbian, gay,
for this report bisexual, trans or queer people. These organisations, all of
which are based in or serve Greater London, completed a
comprises 89
questionnaire between July and September 2010.
organisations
which, by self- The report covers: context; methodology; organisation
longevity; organisation profiles; types of organisations;
definition,
organisation purposes; organisation activities; finance;
specifically serve
organisations’ geographic scope; the people involved; reflection
or represent and looking ahead; and relevant research and publications.
lesbian, gay,
Key findings:
bisexual,
trans or queer When: longevity
people. These
• The average number of years organisations have been
organisations, established is 15 and new organisations have continued
to be founded into 2010.
all of which are
• Sixteen organisations have been established for over 30
based in or serve
years.
Greater London,
Why: purpose of London LGBT organisations
completed a
questionnaire
• Promote LGBT equality and human rights, and equality for
LGBT communities of identity, and to challenge prejudice,
between July and
oppression and discrimination on the basis of sexuality,
September 2010.
gender identity and, for instance, race, age, or disability.
4 Section 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY