Alan Butler, Chair

I completed my PhD, “Performing LGBT Pride in Plymouth 1950 -2012” in 2016 working with University of Plymouth. This project included creating a specific LGBT history accession for the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office (now part of The Box, Plymouth) which also grew into a community archive in its own right. The archive continues to expand with more and more oral history interviews and  memorabilia exploring LGBT+ identity in the city over the last 60 years.

In 2012, we were thrilled to be awarded the “Most Inspirational” archive award by the Community Archive and Heritage Group and that began an association with the group that led to me becoming a member of the committee and, currently, the secretary.

I’m still working with University of Plymouth as a research fellow and associate lecturer in heritage and oral history and I’m the Project Manager for their “Cornerstone Praxis” heritage outreach initiative and I also now work at The Box as one of their learning officers. Along with fellow committee member, Donna Maughan, I convene the Plymouth Community Heritage Network and each of these roles support and extend my work as a trustee of Pride in Plymouth, which is a social enterprise working with schools, businesses and statutory bodies to raise the visibility of local LGBT+ communities and their heritage.

If you have any questions about the work of CAHG, or would like more information about how you can get involved, I will be very pleased to hear from you. You can contact me at chair@communityarchives.org.uk. For more general enquiries and to tell us news about community archives, please contact enquiries@communityarchives.org.uk