General

Today Consortium welcomes a new Chair of Trustees, Yatin Mistry, as we always say farewell and a huge thank you to outgoing Chair Christopher French, who stands down after 3 years as a Trustee.

Outgoing Chair Christopher said, “It has been a privilege to serve as Chair of LGBT+ Consortium. It has not been without its challenges, and I would not have had the ability to face many of these, had it not been for the support of the Board and the steady, resilient work of the fantastic Consortium operational team, to who I want to pay particular thanks to. Yatin will be a fantastic new Chair. His LGBT+ coaching background will be an asset to the role which is often about providing balanced, specific guidance. I wish you all continued success and leave you with the knowledge that LGBT+ Consortium, its Board and Operational Team are there for you. ”

 

Consortium’s new Chair, Yatin Mistry said, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to join the Board of Trustees at Consortium. I have always had a deep passion for LGBT+ activism and believe that by being a part of this team I can make a meaningful impact on  grassroots organisations. It is a true privilege to have the chance to contribute my background in coaching and spirituality to the role of Chair. I believe my empathetic listening skills and ability to foster compassionate collaboration will be invaluable in addressing the challenges we may encounter as LGBT+ communities.”

 

The entire Board and Team want to thank Chris for his dedication over the last 3 years. He helped guide the organisation through the latter parts of the pandemic and was instrumental in shaping our current Strategy, so his legacy will live on for a long time. Everyone is also delighted, and excited, to welcome Yatin into role and will be working with him over the coming weeks and months to hear firsthand from the team, and some of members, what being the umbrella body for LGBT+ Voluntary and Community Organisations is all about.

Members will have the opportunity to hear from Yatin at our annual conference, and to ratify his position, at the end of September.

 

After 9 year’s of being a Trustee for Consortium, Hannah Taylor has stood down from her Trustee position. Hannah has been Consortium’s longest standing Trustee, and as per our Constitution sadly must stand down at this point.

The whole organisation is eternally grateful for everything Hannah has brought to the organisation over the years. She has helped us create new connections with external organisations, seen the organisation through some challenging times and been a beacon of positivity throughout her tenure.

Paul Roberts, Consortium’s Chief Executive said, “Hannah has been an enormous strength both to the organisation and to me personally. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the expertise and knowledge Hannah has brought to the conversation and actions. I am deeply grateful for the enormous time and capacity given to Consortium and am excited for new opportunities for working with her in the future.”

The whole team at Consortium wish Hannah the very best for her new adventures, particularly now she is working for one of our Member orgs, AKT. Thank you for everything!

 

Consortium is delighted to welcome three new members of the team, who all start today (Monday 1st February).

Intersections Fund Development

Consortium is partnering with a range of our Members to explore the future of intersectional focused funding. We are passionate about bringing new income sources to those organisations working with a cross-cutting range of issues and needs including disabled people, those working on racial inequity, older people and trans & non-binary people. Thanks to the National Emergencies Trust and the National Lottery Community Fund we have already engaged a diverse range of organisations in our thinking to date and two people from within our partner organisations will be working with Consortium to further develop our thinking and plans for this exciting area of work.

Rob Berkeley

(He/Him) Award-winning busybody, and recovering academic Dr Rob Berkeley is a founding editor of BLKOUTUK.com, the community-led media/data asset, development agency, and collaborative leadership network for and by black queer men.

He was Director of the racial justice think-tank Runnymede Trust 2009-14.

 

Tyron Woolfe

(He/Him) Tyron has over 25years’ experience in working and volunteering in the Voluntary sector. He is currently Chair of the Deaf Rainbow UK charity, which was set up in 2018.

He is a volunteer with SHOUT, a national crisis text service. Tyron is Deaf and uses British Sign Language.

 

LGBT+ London Engagement

Around a third of Consortium’s Members are based in London. Whilst we firmly remain a UK umbrella body, we respond to the collective needs of our London-based Members with a specific programme of work. Thanks to funding from City Bridge Trust, we are enhancing our London Engagement work to explore what future opportunities exists through relationships with Local Authorities, and to also ensure those based in the outer boroughs of London are better served. All learning from this work feeds into our national team and is used to amplify our entire Engagement Team workplans.

Marita Haakonsen

(She/Her) Coming to us with volunteer experience from both within the LGBT+ sector and the broader voluntary sector, Marita is passionate about community support.

She is looking forward to working with our Members across London to ensure all LGBT+ have opportunities to engage with co-produced and collaborative work.