HomeProjectsAboutContactThe Rainbow Connection was an LGBTQ+ heritage project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, brought about through a partnership between Plymouth Heritage Praxis, Pride in Plymouth Community Trust, Barnardos and The Box
The Rainbow Connection built on the work of the existing Pride in Plymouth LGBTQ+ Community Archive in collecting and exploring the heritage of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans communities in the city Plymouth, while acknowledging that the handing down of this heritage does not often occur through generational lines in the same manner as other identity characteristics often do.
A younger generation do not automatically come into contact or learn details of their LGBTQ+ heritage without direct intervention. This project explored ways to challenge this with the development of an inter-generational educational framework and resources that can encourage empowerment and the building of identity among LGBTQ+ groups of varying ages.
The outcomes of this project continue to inform the heritage engagement work of the Pride in Plymouth Community Trust.
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In recent years, there has been an acknowledgement that an understanding and an appreciation of your heritage can directly impact on wellbeing in communities. The LGBTQ+ community is not a community that lives in one location but we are bound together in reconciling a sense of 'difference'. Being connected to the elders in the community and their stories creates a sense of legacy and shows us we’re not so different after all.
Through a series of talks, workshops and use of oral history practice, this project used the LGBTQ+ Community Archive, and the people which have contributed to it, in new manner to create safe spaces for this heritage to be shared, transmitted and celebrated. Through this process we seek to create a unique mentoring scheme as well as an ongoing archival resource for this and future generations.
The Rainbow Connection enabled the testing of a more direct way of activating archives to directly impact into young LGBTQ+ lives through mentoring and conversations. .
To find out more about any of our projects please contact us: daniel.maudlin@plymouth.ac.uk