The purpose of the Alphabet Collective (AC) is to provide safe and aspirational spaces outside of the night-time economy, which aim to empower intersectional LGBTQIA+ communities. This collective promotes healthy friendships, skill building and development of tools to manage wellbeing, with a particular focus on neurodivergent people, those with low mobility, chronic health conditions and learning difficulties. We aim to reach and improve lived experiences of those who face social isolation, estrangement, those who are NEET and those who face disproportionate levels of marginalisation.
There is a lack of services supporting LGBTQIA+ 18-25 year olds, the AC holds a safe space tailored to the needs of service users and their access to housing, healthcare, food banks, places of worship, education, training and well-being services. We help people reach their potential, by supporting them at the earliest possible stage and increasing the amount of experiences for young people to feel accepted, and to to assist in developing their skills and confidence. We bring together those at risk of isolation, estrangement and lacking a sense of community, to have fun, and explore identities, histories, and lived experiences, in a collaborative, compassionate and dynamic approach to supporting LGBTQIA+ communities.
The Alphabet Collective started as a peer support group in 2021 within the charity Getaway Girls and became independent in July 2023. AC was initially started as an ‘intervention’ project, to fill the gap of services for LGBTQIA+ people who were most impacted by anti-queerness and austerity measures.
The Alphabet Collective was founded by youth workers Hannah Poklad and Katie Toulmin, joined by their founding board members Ben, Emilie and Annie who have all volunteered in their positions for the AC since its founding in 2023. Over this period, Hannah and Katie have run weekly peer support sessions for young LGBTQIA+ people in Leeds, joined by our support worker A Cattermole who joined the AC to support service users in May of 2024.
In August 2023, the Alphabet Collective received their first funding from Leeds Community Microgrants of £2500. This funding was put towards supporting the social and emotional well-being of LGBTQIA+ communities in weekly peer-support groups. These groups engaged young people in affirming experiences which celebrated and explored identity through peer support, discussion, workshops, arts based practices, educational sessions exploring Queer history, health and well-being, and recreational activities like skateboarding.
Throughout the summer of 2023, the Alphabet Collective became a member of The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NVCO). The NVCO is the umbrella body for the voluntary and community sector in England. NCVO works to support the voluntary and community sector and to create an environment in which an independent civil society can flourish. The founders and key trustees have been working with NVCO support and guidelines to write policy for the Alphabet Collective, and do the ground-work to get the organisation running effectively.
In October 2023, the Alphabet collective was awarded a £10,000 grant from the National Lottery Community Fund. The National Lottery Community Fund, legally named the Big Lottery Fund, is a non-departmental public body responsible for distributing funds raised by the National Lottery. Since October 2023, The Alphabet Collective has gained funding from The National Lottery, Comic Relief, GrassRoots Foundation, Wade’s Charity, Leeds Community Foundation, Leeds City Council, Welcome Spaces and Bentley to sustain us until 2027.
The Alphabet Collective has remained a small team of people who have been working with the AC since the beginning, with only a more recent expansion of a volunteer network of LGBTQIA+ people who volunteer their time to support our organisation’s operations.
If you are interested in getting involved with the Alphabet Collective, or would like to get in touch please do so here.