How the LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge transformed resident activities and inclusion at United St Saviour's Charity

This Pride Month, we wanted to share the story of how the LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge has helped shape a genuinely more inclusive culture across our almshouses at United St. Saviour’s Charity – and what it has meant for our residents, staff and the wider Southwark community.

About us

United St Saviour's Charity has been supporting residents of the London Borough of Southwark since 1541. Our historic property portfolio in and around Borough Market generates sustainable income that funds our housing and grant-making programmes, while our Community Investment Programme and the One Southwark initiative see us partnering with local organisations and residents to build equity, champion prevention and empower community groups.

At the heart of all this sits our almshouse provision: high-quality affordable homes for older people on low incomes across four almshouses – the oldest form of social housing – offering comfort, community and independence in later life. As the RIBA judges said of our Stirling Prize Winning Appleby Blue scheme in 2025, this is "a building born of deep concern for how to grow older gracefully in a supportive community, where every move in the design has been made to improve the quality of the residents' lives."

Our Pledge journey

Inclusion is a key strand of our strategic plan, and we wanted to create truly inclusive environments across our almshouses. We had previously been working towards the Pride in Care accreditation with Opening Doors London, but felt we needed a framework better suited to housing providers.

That's where the LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge came in. Created by HouseProud and the University of Surrey and delivered by Stonewall Housing, the Pledge is free for any social housing provider to sign up to, as a way of demonstrating inclusion and support for LGBTQ+ residents.

We made the Pledge in June 2024 – and just under a year later, in May 2025, we achieved Pledge Pioneer status.

How we met the standard

Meeting the Pledge wasn't a tick-box exercise – it was a way of embedding inclusion in our culture. It meant:

• Naming our Champions – a resident, a trustee and a staff member – to drive the work forward
• Training our staff and increasing visibility of LGBTQ+ inclusion across the organisation
• Reviewing our policies and procedures
• Investing in educational reading materials for residents
• Planning a series of events
• Launching our Rainbow Club

Launching the Rainbow Club

The Rainbow Club launch brought together an expert panel discussion, lived experience representation, audience participation and celebration – with a rainbow cake taking pride of place to symbolise community, inclusion and support.

Four expert speakers discussed the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ residents in social housing, sharing insights and practical solutions. Crucially, a resident panellist brought authentic lived experience to the conversation, enriching the dialogue in a way no amount of policy review could. Audience members were then invited to share their own experiences and connect with one another, creating a safe and welcoming space.

The Rainbow Club events focus on LGBTQ+ residents, but welcome everyone – promoting inclusion and understanding across the whole community.

Events that bring people together

Since launching, we've run a series of events that put this inclusion into practice:

• Pride Panto ‘Prince Charming’ – an inclusive musical comedy engaging LGBTQ+ residents and allies, held at our Appleby Blue almshouse open to the wider community and funded by the London Borough of Southwark
• The Posh Club – a glamorous, intergenerational social club for older people featuring cabaret, dancing and afternoon tea. It promotes joy and intergenerational connection, provides a safe and celebratory space for older LGBTQ+ residents and allies, and helps reduce isolation and build community

Learning and collaborating

Inclusion work doesn't happen in isolation, and we've valued the chance to learn from and work alongside others:

• Visiting the Queer Britain Museum – not long after it opened, we arranged an exploratory visit to build a relationship with the organisation
• Creating LGBTQ+ libraries – for LGBTQ+ History Month, we began investing in books on queer history and life in London, with the aim of establishing a dedicated LGBTQ+ section in each lounge of our almshouses over time
• The Life House Impact Project – working with the Life House Project to create an animated training video, empowering our residents to share their lived experiences in ways that will help shape inclusive practices across housing and care settings

The impact, in residents' own words

Perhaps the best summary of what the Pledge has meant comes from one of our residents at Hopton's Gardens Almshouse:

"I've been a resident with St Saviour's for over 10 years now and management's commitment to LGBTQ+ rights and issues has been exemplary. This culminated in the successful launch of the Rainbow Club which provided a warm welcome to all with an interest, and especially supports the welfare of our LGBTQ+ residents."

What's next?

This work is ongoing. Our ambition is to create a united Southwark with strong, equal and inclusive communities where everyone can thrive – and the LGBTQ+ HouseProud Housing Pledge has given us a practical, supportive framework to keep building on what we've started: more Rainbow Club events, continued investment in our LGBTQ+ library collections, and continuing to grow the visibility and confidence of our Champions network.

If you're a housing provider thinking about how to better support your LGBTQ+ residents, I'd really encourage you to look at the LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge (opens new window) – it costs nothing to sign up, but the difference it can make to your residents' sense of belonging is enormous.

Happy Pride Month from all of us at United St Saviour's Charity.

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Jude recently shared these experiences during our HAPPI Hour webinar, Pride in Place: Celebrating inclusive housing & LGBTQ+ community initiatives, which is now available to watch on demand. Chaired by Winckworth Sherwood, we brought together leading voices from law, academia and the arts to explore what safe, affirming housing means for LGBTQ+ communities today. 

To learn more about almshouses, visit our dedicated topic webpage.