We’re excited to announce that the Leeds LGBTQ+ Community Consortium (LLCC) is joining the Out Together family. This new chapter is an important development that will help shape future support for LGBTQ+ communities across Leeds, West Yorkshire and beyond.
About the Leeds LGBTQ+ Community Consortium
The LLCC has been running for 6 years and was founded during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns. Like Out Together, the organisation has provided vital support to some of the most isolated and vulnerable people in the Leeds LGBTQ+ community.
The team has also helped bring together LGBTQ+ groups, organisations, and communities across the city, building trust, relationships, and goodwill, and creating activities many people highly value. Through collaboration, events, networking, and community activities, LLCC has helped create a stronger, more joined-up LGBTQ+ community landscape across the city.
Out Together and LLCC have long supported each other and share values, goals and a commitment to connecting people and creating a better future for all LGBTQ+ individuals.
Why is the Leeds LGBTQ+ Community Consortium joining Out Together?
Over the last few months, Out Together has been working closely with LLCC as it looks to the next chapter of its work.
Together, we have been exploring how LLCC’s valued activities, relationships, and community connections built over the years can be supported for many more years to come.
At this same point in time, thanks to the incredible work of our team and volunteers, along with generous funding and support from organisations including The Shameless Fund, The UK Government and The National Lottery Community Fund, as well as support from our brilliant corporate partners and sponsors, Patient.info, Flamingos Coffee House, Weightmans, Sky and Mills & Reeve, and all those who continue to support us through donations and attending fundraising events – we have been looking at ways Out Together can continue to strengthen our infrastructure, reach more people and increase the support we can provide to LGBTQ+ communities across Leeds, West Yorkshire and beyond.
Together, the teams at LLCC and Out Together agreed that by combining our strengths, we can create something even stronger for our local communities.
How will this impact Out Together and ongoing Leeds LGBTQ+ Community Consortium activities?
We will now provide LLCC a long-term home under Out Together, which aligns with our mission to extend our reach, capacity, and impact.
For many months, we have worked closely with the LLCC team behind the scenes to ensure a smooth, positive transition for both organisations and our members.
We are proud to bring the important work and legacy of LLCC under our wing as we enter this new chapter, and promise to protect it.
While LLCC as a standalone legal entity is winding down, its activities and assets will be transferred to Out Together – which also means we are delighted to offer a warm welcome to our newest team members, who are joining Out Together from LLCC.
LLCC’s visual identity will also be refreshed to reflect its new home within Out Together, while retaining the name, recognition and community connections it has built over the past six years.
This is a hugely positive step for both communities, enabling us to achieve our collective goals of increasing capacity, gaining stronger administrative support, and improving systems – providing both Out Together and LLCC’s activities with a more efficient way of working.
The longer-term impact we hope will benefit our community is increased access to support and activities, improved communications and a stronger, more joined-up LGBTQ+ community.
Protecting Leeds LGBTQ+ Community Consortium’s Legacy
Our main aim, as LLCC joins us, is to protect the legacy and work LLCC has built over the years.
LLCC’s identity, legacy and community relationships will remain central to this next chapter. Out Together’s role will be to provide stewardship and support, enabling its trusted activities and connections to continue and thrive.
To ensure this transfer is handled with great care, we have worked closely with LLCC representatives on a carefully planned handover that minimises disruption while maintaining LLCC’s distinct identity within Out Together.
Our aim and commitment to LLCC members is to:
- Continue a steering group for LLCC activity.
- Preserve LLCC’s community purpose and goodwill.
- Continue maintaining LLCC’s website and digital channels so members can continue to access information and support as they always have.
- Support ongoing communications within the LLCC community, including its newsletter.
- Welcome familiar members of the LLCC team into Out Together.
- Provide additional administrative and organisational support to help LLCC’s activities continue and develop.
Why this matters to Out Together
We are incredibly honoured to have been entrusted with looking after the wonderful community of members at LLCC.
By combining Out Together and LLCC’s activities under one organisation, we hope to create a more joined-up and effective network for our local LGBTQ+ community, particularly those in Leeds, where LLCC’s activities will continue.
The increased capacity of our team that comes with this new chapter also enables Out Together and LLCC to strengthen and expand upon our broader activities and work more effectively.
Overall, this exciting new chapter for Out Together and LLCC increases our ability to achieve our mission of breaking down social and cultural barriers, bringing people together, and building a visible, connected, empowered, and inclusive LGBTQ+ community across all generations, helping everyone find belonging, joy, and success in their lives.
Getting involved
Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll share more about LLCC and Out Together activities on our website, socials and in our newsletters. If you are interested in attending an event, supporting us, volunteering, or partnering with us, we would love to hear from you.