Everyone has a story. You don’t have to have a achieved anything. Your story is just as important as everyone else’s.  We want to show a whole range of stories showing a variety of life experiences. 

Don’t worry, we have lots of ideas of the kinds of things we want to know about. We will have a list of questions we will use as a prompt to help you think about your experiences.  We may share the list of questions in advance if you think that would help you plan what you might want to say or need extra support.  We won’t necessarily ask the same question to everyone we interview.  It might be that one question leads us in a different direction we think would be interesting and we will ask people to tell us more about that subject.  We might include topics such as coming out, jobs and careers family, relationships, friendships, socialising, education / section 28, HIV/AIDS diagnosis and care, how you came to be in Derby or Derbyshire.

No, so long as you have a connection to Derby or Derbyshire we would like to record your story.  You may have studied here and moved away.  You may have left the area and have memories of your time here and being LGBT+ or living with HIV or working in healthcare. You may have only lived here for a few months we still want to hear your story.

Yes, give them our contact details or direct them to our website and they can register their interest with us. 

Yes, we can record your story and use a number or false name as a reference so that no-one knows it is you.

That’s ok, when you tell your story, you can also say which sections you are happy to share and which you would prefer were hidden. If there is a period, you don’t want to us to use in any exhibitions then we can remove or redact it from use. 

We will arrange for trained volunteers to meet you at a suitable location to record your story on a digital microphone. If you live a long distance away, we might set up a Zoom call and record the conversation online capturing sound and vision. If we record it online you will need to have a strong internet signal and a camera on a laptop or tablet.  The volunteers and staff will have had a DBS check to make sure they are safe to take part.

No. Ideally, we want to record you on your own. Your partner or friend can be in another room. It is your voice we want to record and not theirs. If they are close by, we can call upon them if you need emotional support. 

Remembering our past is not always full of happiness. It might be there are sad or angry parts of our past. They are what make us the person we are today.  If you are worried about the experience of telling your story, please talk to us. If you get upset, that’s ok, we can stop a recording and give you time. We might rearrange another day. We might carry on with the recording after a break. We will do our best to support you and signpost to other sources of help. 

• People who identify as LGBT+ with a connection to Derby & Derbyshire

• People living with HIV / AIDS with a connection to Derby & Derbyshire

• People who have lost a family member, friend or partner to HIV

• Healthcare professionals who have provided care to people with HIV or managed services in the Derby & Derbyshire area.

Your information will be stored securely on a server at Derbyshire LGBT+.  We will take a back up copy to make sure it does not get deleted or lost accidently.  Once the project is completed, we plan to give the entire collection to an archive. The archive will look after your story in the same way we do. They will only share the parts you want to share and only when you say so.  Some people might not want to share their story until after they have passed.  The information in such cases is not made available until that date. 

Firstly, we will keep it safe. As we record your story, we will make notes as to sections you don’t want us to use. Secondly, we will transcribe the recording so that if there if the recording is damaged, we will have a written record. We plan to use snippets of different stories to produce an exhibition showing the broad experiences of the LGBT+ community. The exhibitions might be temporary or permanent. It will depend on the space we can use their priorities.  The exhibitions will take place at different times in the lifetime of the project. We endeavour to let participants know when and where exhibitions might take place.

We know what it is like to disclose your identity to your family. We can use false names and blank out any part you feel would make you identifiable to you family.  If you feel you cannot attend one of the Derbyshire LGBT+ centres, we will look to find a suitable venue in the community. 

We know what it is like to disclose your HIV status to your family. We can use false names and blank out any part you feel would make you identifiable to you family.  If you feel you cannot attend one of the Derbyshire LGBT+ centres, we will look to find a suitable venue in the community. 

Often LGBT+ history is missing from historical records. This might be a deliberate choice or ignorance of LGBT+ issues. We feel the LGBT+ community of Derbyshire has something to share of their history and we want to make sure we’re not overlooked in the future. There are a number of significantly important people from the area as well as everyday people like us who have a place in history. History isn’t just about great inventions or having wealth and power. The stories of LGBT+ individuals fill in the gaps and add different perspectives to history especially social history.

Yes, photographs or other memorabilia may help us bring your story to life. When we come to do the recording, we will talk to you about loaning or donating items to add to the Our Stories collection. They may be personal photos of you and loved ones or at events such as Pride or social occasions. You might have written records such as letters, posters, badges, t-shirts or fliers that show LGBT+ life in the past.