IT’S the £49k project to bring Hampshire’s LGBT history out of the shadows.

A year ago the Daily Echo reported on a new project funded by Heritage Lottery to unearth the county’s hidden lesbian and gay past.

Young LGBT people were trained in conducting and recording interviews for the inter-generational project.

Now they will be handing their work over to Hampshire archives in a special ceremony.

But they are still looking for materials which will help unlock past.

To celebrate LGBT history month 2018 project organisers are asking the LGBT community to send in anything that will help piece together the region’s history.

If you have leaflets, magazines, or stories of wild - or quiet - nights out in bygone LGBT bars across the country Y Services would like you to get involved.

The interviews and any other materials will go into a new LGBT section of the Hampshire archives.

Dawn Tracy, Y Services LGBT+ Youth Worker, said: “It’s a really exciting project and opportunity for the LGBT+ young people we support. “Participants have described how the project has helped them to develop a sense of belonging and community by sharing experiences and interviewing older LGBT+ people.

“These shared stories have helped today’s LGBT+ young people understand that some challenges and problems are not new!

“This creative project has provided our young people with a sense of validation and developed skills to deal with their own challenges.”

Stuart McLeod, Head of HLF South East England, said: “It’s fantastic that we can support these projects to shine a light on parts of history that have traditionally been overlooked.

“Thanks to National Lottery players, these fascinating stories will be rightfully brought to the fore and preserved for future generations - an important record of the challenges and achievements of the LGBT+ community.”

Y Services: Voices for Heritage will be ceremoniously handing over the interviews to be stored at the Winchester Records Office on Monday February 26 from 6.30pm – 8.30pm