Swindon & Wiltshire Pride are excited to announce ‘We Were Always Here’ –– a community heritage project to discover the hidden social history of LGBTQIA+ people in Wiltshire. 

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Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. ‘We Were Always Here’ is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we will discover the stories of how ordinary queer Wiltshire folk lived and loved, suffered and triumphed against social attitudes. We will work closely with project partners, Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre and Swindon Local Studies Library, also Kate Parsons (Heritage Interpretation Design Lead) and Andrew Foyle (Historian Advisor). 

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The project focuses on two centuries of social history from the beginning of the 18th century, when strict laws against any kind of homosexual behaviour were introduced, to 2014, when equal rights were achieved with the passing of the same sex marriage act. This community research project aims to produce: 

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• An exhibition - an easily transportable, free-standing item suitable for indoor and outdoor display. It will be available for loan to interested organisations and educational establishments, with a permanent home in the Pride Hub, Swindon town centre.  

• A concise, illustrated history book - offered free-of-charge to every senior school, college, library and LGBTQIA+ organisations in Wiltshire  

• Free historical resource pages on our website  

We will add to this page as more information becomes available, as well as provide updates through our Pride newsletter.  In the meantime, we are looking for applications for paid project roles, and you can register your interest as a volunteer researcher or to contribute to the project research:​