LGBTQ+ history month

LGBT+ History Month 2025

February is UK LGBTQ+ history month, an annual observance of LGBT+ history and celebration of the culture.

We will partner with local community groups to offer a diverse programme of events celebrating the history, achievements, and contributions of the borough’s LGBTQ+ communities in February 2025 and beyond through our LGBT+ micro-grants programme.

This year’s theme Activism and Social Change. Two of the historical figures chosen as part of the national campaign have a connection to Lewisham. Octavia Hill was one of the three founders of the National Trust. She campaigned strongly against the loss of open spaces for poor Londoners. When plans were announced to build over Hilly Fields, Octavia Hill was instrumental in helping local people set up a campaign and raise funds to save the land as a public park.

Olaudah Equiano was an 18th-century writer and abolitionist, known for his autobiography detailing both when he was enslaved and his role in the abolitionist movement.

There are memorials to Equiano across the borough and a sculpture in Telegraph Hill commemorating the abolitionist was unveiled in 2008.

Apply for a Micro-grant 

We are offering small grants for LGBTQ+ History Month 2025 of up to £1,000.

These grants are to enable celebrations and events that engage directly with local communities in Lewisham. They can add funds to an already planned event or entirely fund an event.

Activities must take place in Lewisham. Applications may come from not for profit, constituted organisations as well as individuals and unconstituted groups, as long as they are endorsed by a constituted organisation which has agreed to hold the awarded funds.

The deadline to apply for a grant is 11.59pm on Sunday, 15 December.

For more information and to apply, see the LGBTQ+ History Month Grant form: LGBTQ+ Grant Form.