People, Pride and Progress

Our community partners at National Railway Museum have received almost £100k from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to launch a new collecting project to record the voices of railway workers from the LGBTQ+ community for the first time. 

Called People, Pride and Progress, the project will create up to 70 oral history interviews with people from the rail industry to document their experiences and to fill a gap in railway knowledge before it is lost. 

The project will connect past, present and future, offering opportunities for individuals from different generations within the LGBTQ+ railway community to meet and learn from each other’s lived experiences. This project aims to work with the community to learn their stories, preserving them for present and future generations. It is an opportunity for the industry to celebrate the incredible communities that come together to make our industry exceptional, and helping companies meet their diversity and inclusion objectives. It aims to increase understanding of LGBTQ+ issues, develop a greater understanding of the community’s contribution to the railways and to tell more diverse and inclusive stories.

The project has been launched with the support and cooperation of the rail industry, including Network Rail’s LGBT+ organisation Archway. The project has been funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, ASLEF and the Friends of the National Railway Museum.

Alison Kay, Archives Manager at the National Railway Museum, said:

'The huge shift in attitudes in society and the rail industry over the last 50 years is significant. These changes have not been recorded and risk being lost unless these voices and stories are recorded now. Our work will be guided by the LGBTQ+ community and the rail industry and will enhance the national collection and our understanding of railway history.'

The National Railway Museum are looking for:

• LGBTQIA+ colleagues (current, retired, or who have moved on from the industry) with substantial experience in any parts of the rail industry – TOCs, FOCs, supply chain, maintenance, policy, infrastructure, or other parts of the industry – who are happy to have chat with us about the past, share life stories, memories, and reflect on personal experiences in an audio recording with our volunteers.
• 10+ volunteer oral history interviewers
  
  Interviewers must have a personal connection to the project and a part of the railway community. They must have started their career post-privatisation, be happy to share memories, and be prepared to lead and conduct recordings.
  
  Comprehensive training will be provided through the Oral History Society to help volunteers develop skills in planning, managing, and running oral history interviews. Interviewers will also gain understanding of how to approach their own oral history projects, process and preserve outputs.

To register your interest or to find out more, please contact [email protected]