Brighton & Hove LGBT Switchboard is a charity supporting LGBTQ+ people looking for community, support and information. Through its BOLD programme, the organisation works with older LGBTQ+ people around bereavement, dementia, social isolation, brain health and ageing. 

BOLD Engagement Support Worker, Helen charles, recently attended our My Future Care training before piloting the My Future Care Handbook with members of Switchboard’s Mémoire group, a programme combining practical future planning with peer support and brain health activities.

We caught up with Helen to hear about the participants’ experience.

Helen explained that, at the start of the pilot, there were real questions about whether the My Future Care Handbook would feel relevant for LGBTQ+ communities.

“To begin with, there were lots of assumptions from the group, including me, about how fitting the My Future Care Handbook information might be for members of our community.”

But the experience quickly challenged those assumptions.

“It turns out most, if not all of it, is utterly fitting. Apart from the underlying assumption perhaps, that the reader or audience is heteronormative.”

Helen said one of the biggest pieces of feedback from the group was the importance of recognising “chosen family”, particularly for LGBTQ+ people who may have experienced estrangement from blood relatives due to homophobia or rejection.

“The phrase ‘chosen family’ often needs to be inserted into standard documents of all shapes and sizes.”

At the same time, the group found that the core content of the Handbook strongly reflected the group’s priorities and concerns, including funeral wishes, future care planning and end-of-life conversations.

“Everything you cover in the Handbook covers everything we in the community would cover too.”

By the end of the pilot, Helen said the group felt confident recommending the Handbook widely.

“The My Future Care Handbook is different, we discovered. Completely relevant to all, no matter what sexuality or gender we are.”

One of the most important insights from the pilot was that the real barriers were often not the Handbook itself, but the wider systems LGBTQ+ people still have to navigate.

“We identified that the problem lay in the fact that, once we were in those solicitor’s offices or hospitals or care homes, the issue of homophobia, transphobia and bigotry was always lurking.”

Helen also reflected on the advantages of working with a paper-based Handbook for older LGBTQ+ people, particularly those who may feel excluded from mainstream spaces or lack confidence with technology.

“Many of our Mémoire elders find that keeping up with the speed of technological development difficult. ‘It’s not a language we all grew up with, is it?’ The QR codes within the Handbook are great, but we did need to have a whole session learning what they are, how they work and their safety. Some participants didn’t want to use their own phones or tablets to practice using them, so I was happy for them to practice on my work mobile instead.”

For Helen, the pilot reinforced the importance of testing assumptions and creating supportive spaces where people can approach future planning in ways that feel safe, practical, and culturally aware.

“It was a very useful exercise for us all and underlines the importance of testing things out before jumping to conclusions.”

The impact of the pilot was reflected in participant feedback and questionnaire results.
The percentage of people who felt well or reasonably well informed increased from 33% to 78%, while those who felt well or reasonably well prepared increased from 22% to 55%.

The number of important documents participants had in place increased by 62%, and 100% of participants said they would recommend the My Future Care Handbook. 

Participants also highlighted the value of working through future planning in a supportive LGBTQ+ environment.

One participant shared:

“As an LGBTQ person with no children and no-one else to leave everything with when I die, I and many others in our community find it very difficult to complete our wills, LPA etc. The Handbook helps us realise we were not at an impasse entirely.” 

Helen now plans to continue the Mémoire programme as an ongoing brain health group combining practical future planning with peer support, creativity and conversation.

“I will be resuming Mémoire in June as a brain health group that gets stuff done, wills, LPAs and future planning, as well as offering support in a safe space to talk about issues affecting our members.”

We’d like to say a huge thank you to Helen and everyone involved in the Mémoire groups at Brighton & Hove LGBT Switchboard for their thoughtful feedback, openness and willingness to explore the My Future Care Handbook.

Their feedback has provided invaluable insight into how our future planning resources can support LGBTQ+ communities, while also reinforcing the importance of safe, inclusive spaces where these conversations can happen openly and confidently.
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Feeling motivated by Helen’s insights? Could you incorporate future care planning support into your group or service?