StoneCrabs has announced that it has been awarded a grant of £76,760 from the Heritage Fund for its new project, “Pride In Self, Pride In Place”.
This ground-breaking initiative aims to explore the role of the NHS in LGBTQ+ culture on the Isle of Wight during the 1980s and 1990s, a time when the LGBTQ+ community was fighting for recognition and support in the face of Section 28 and the AIDS pandemic.
The project is all about creating a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQ+ individuals to share their life experiences through oral history recordings. We’re looking for LGBTQ+ people and allies who are passionate about this cause to help us with various tasks such as conducting research, organising events, and assisting with interviews. If you’re interested in helping us document and preserve these important stories, please get in touch.
Channel 4 documentary It’s A Sin highlighted the 1980’s and 1990’s as a turbulent time for LGBTQ+ people struggling with Section 28 and the AIDS pandemic. Those struggles galvanised a community which thrived on the Island with NHS-funded Gay Switchboard and WightOut newsletters. Pride In Self, Pride In Place aims to research the period in more detail producing an exhibition of its findings which will be displayed at Carisbrooke Castle Museum.
StoneCrabs Artistic Director Franko Figueiredo expressed his excitement about the project, stating:
“We’re thrilled to have received this grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to continue exploring and celebrating LGBTQ+ history. We hope that this project will raise awareness and promote inclusivity, inspiring other organisations to explore and share LGBTQ+ history in their own communities. There will also be opportunities to learn about this fascinating Isle of Wight Heritage with guest speakers delivering talks about LGBTQ+ history during the 18-month project.”
Dr Victoria Preston trustee of the Classic Boat Museum said:
“The Classic Boat Museum is delighted to be collaborating with StoneCrabs in the new project ‘Out On An Island: Pride In Self, Pride in Place’. We look forward to hosting events at the museum and wish StoneCrabs every success with this project and well-deserved grant award. StoneCrabs is a pioneer on the Island not only for raising awareness about LGBT issues but also for making everyone feel included.”
Commenting on the award, Pride In Self, Pride In Place project manager Caroline Diamond said:
“We are grateful to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for giving us the opportunity to work closely with Solent NHS, one of the Island’s biggest and most inclusive employers. We look forward to learning about the work of the NHS in the 1980s and 1990s and to supporting today’s LGBTQ+ community with new opportunities.”
£76,760 …..
That’s £76,760 …. And for what?
“To explore the role of the NHS in LGBTQ+ culture on the Isle of Wight during the 1980s and 1990s”
We can’t afford to keep the public swimming pools going, local bus routes, help for aged or deaf and this lot get £77k to help inspire, promote and help inclusivity!!!!
You people are all sick and twisted.
In today’s world you can be who ever you want to be gender fluidity is the norm so you best get use to it.
We should be remembering and and coming to terms with how society mistreated LGBTQ+ people all those years ago.
I propose a national rememberence day for all those who have gone before us shining a light and leading the way for Trans, Gay, Lesbian rights.
This money is needed to help promote our culture and move the world and society forward.
Come off it. What a load of tosh. Poor me, poor me, pour me another …
If gay, lesbians think they can move the world and society forward, good luck with that. Just remember man + woman = children. Total and absolute waste of money, people are having to wait months and months for life saving operations and there is no cash for that, but LGBTQZYX or whatever is the new fad this week pop out for more money. Shameful.
lgbtq talk about inclusively, however, do not have an H for heterosexual in their acronym
you can’t be considered inclusive, if you exclude the 99% of society that are heterosexual
hypocrites
‘You people are all sick and twisted’.
And there you have it, the intolerance of the radical left.
Nobody cares what you are, people are very tolerant of others today.
Except the alphabet community and its many hangers on have this pathetic need to be celebrated constantly, and will wage war on the heterosexual majority for no reason other than their own perverse agenda.
Keep your ideology out of our schools and stop grooming children, it’s sickening.
What world are you living in?
I here people say this is 2023,what does that mean??
Progress? Maybe? What next marry my Dog?
Give it a rest. We’re all sick to death of having all this shoved down our throats. Be whoever you want , none of us gives a S**t.
Agree – It’s old news – history in fact, and about time LGBTQ++ moved on.
Into the nearest landfill ideally.
.Disgusting waste of money..
Lots of better ways to spend this amount of money.
On what, new football pitch?
This is money well spent we don’t forget the holocaust so why should we dismiss the persecution, homophobia and the treatment of AIDS victims back in the last century.
I’ve got the Stones for this fight!
You’ve got some neck comparing to the holocaust. Get over yourself. Listen, this attitude and the ‘ do as we say or else’ approach is getting peoples backs up. Because of this perpetual bombardment and violent aggressive activists. LGBT + whatever,
Has begun to degrade society’s acceptance and LGBT rights are going backwards. Hence all the anti LGBT laws and propaganda. People are sick of it. To be quite honest the majority of people don’t give a sh**
You catch a lot more flies with sugar than with salt.
What a total waste of money they them up down left right lbgtq vwxyz lol
What an absolute waste of money. How do these people sleep at night? Are there not (like a trillion) better things to spend nearly 80 grand on? Sick.
When I was growing up a boy was a boy and a girl was a girl, plain and simple. How much is this costing?? An NHS funded phoneline in the 80s and 90s, why? Probably said enough now, so I will shhhhh before I offend anyone, god forbid.
Thos goes against God’s teachings and the laws of nature.
LGBT has been in our lives since time in memoriam and over the decades it has been dealt with and laws changed to fit into our current lives. The AIDs scandal was more about infected blood than Aids transmission as that works for both sexes. This is an exceptional amount of money to give what I consider is acceptance by most to LGBT, yes there will be sections apposed to them, but a lot more people accept LGBTs now more so than ever before in our history. The LGBT must also accept that everyone is entitled to their own opinions of same sex relationships, and some may never be able to accept same sex relationships. The more they pressurise the public to accept, the more damage I think Live and let live is the concept we need.
I agree, let bygones be bygones
This is a repulsive and disgusting waste of money, what do these clowns think they will achieve.
I have close friends who are “gay” and they all say the same thing that they were happily getting on with life and accepted in their communities until this lgb movement started kicking off and now they are vilified and harassed on a daily basis, in the NHS in the 80’s “gay”staff were not bothered and generally people kept their private lives out of work and just did their jobs
If this is what lottery money is spent on, stuff it, I won’t be buying any more loosing tickets, as apparently the only winners are child groomers!