Milton Keynes has long been the backdrop to powerful moments in LGBTQ+ history.
In the 70s, it welcomed the Campaign for Homosexual Equality. The 80s saw the launch of the Lesbian and Gay Switchboard. In the 90s, Youthline offered vital space for LGBTQ+ young people to connect. And in the 2000s, the Freedom Centre and Q:Space gave communities space of their own.
Each decade has carved a new chapter in the story of pride and progress. Now, it’s time to ask: what does the next generation need to write theirs?
This month, MK Community Foundation launches the Rainbow Fund, a dedicated fund for projects and organisations that centre equity, inclusion, visibility, safety and wellbeing for LGBTQ+ people in Milton Keynes. It prioritises groups led by and for LGBTQ+ communities, especially those supporting people who face multiple forms of discrimination or marginalisation.
This fund builds on work the foundation has already supported, through valued and close partnerships with Q:alliance and MK Pride Festival.
Examples of what that support has looked like include:
- MK Pride Festival: MK Pride Festival is a joyful celebration of identity and solidarity. Funding focused on accessibility and community inclusion, enabling MK Pride to provide services such as BSL interpreters across its stages.
- Queer Histories Project: this project brought Milton Keynes’ LGBTQ+ history to life through school packs, guided walks and exhibitions. Rooted in lived experience, it helped young people understand queer contributions and history in the city, while creating long-term educational resources in collaboration with local LGBTQ+ youth.
- Community Strengthening: funding helped Q:alliance increase its capacity to support people facing isolation, discrimination and post-COVID hardship. It enabled outreach, partnerships, and user-led planning, ensuring Milton Keynes’s only LGBTQ+ charity could meet the community’s growing needs.
- Trans Awareness Training: developed for care home managers, this training was a true collaboration. It was formulated by Healthwatch MK, hosted through PJ Care, and led by Q:alliance and Alzheimer’s Society, and fostered empathy and practical understanding around supporting trans residents. It tackled unconscious bias, advanced inclusion, and created ripple effects of acceptance across care settings.
Looking ahead
What is the vision for the future of LGBTQ+ communities in Milton Keynes? The story continues. Milton Keynes Community Foundation wants to offer the community the chance to share in more book clubs, art projects and mental health support and ensure more voices are heard. More joy, more safety, more space to thrive. This fund is designed to back that evolution, to fuel what’s already happening, and what’s yet to come.
Individuals or businesses that support the Rainbow Fund are not just making a donation but investing in the future of the original community builders. The next generation of queer storytellers, support workers, artists and campaigners.
The first step is arranging an informal chat with the philanthropy team, who can explain more about how the foundation is matching donations up to £25,000, so every contribution will go twice as far and its impact will reach much further.
