About

Broken Futures History Group
Our History Group, with the generosity of 15 community volunteers, have spent over 167 hours since Feb 2020 recovering this history from criminal records held at the Berkshire Record Office, and remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. To read more about their research, please visit the Online Exhibitions tab on the site menu.
A massive thank you goes to the entire volunteer team who have throughout the project been energetic and passionate towards recollecting this history. Without their contributions and support, the Broken Futures project and research wouldn’t have been possible.
We would like to thank the support of two Volunteer Voice Actors, Mikhail Franklin and Juliet England, for their contributions in bringing these stories to life.
meet the team


Amy
Amy graduated from the University of Reading with a First Class Law Degree in 2019; she is currently completing her Master’s Degree in Legal Research part-time. In 2018, Amy co-managed the pilot project, alongside George, for Broken Futures on an undergraduate research internship in connection with the University of Reading and the Berkshire Record Office. She started at Support U as a Frontline Officer in March 2019 and since December 2019 she has led the Broken Futures project.
George
George worked alongside Amy in the pilot project. After completing a master’s degree focusing on reconstructing the lives of men who had sex with men during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, he joined the Broken Futures project team. George’s interests lie mainly with the practicalities and ethics of using archival sources to reconstruct these lives, as well as how these stories can be used to inform our understanding of the legal proscription of sex between men.
Project Partners
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, partner to the National Lottery, focuses on supporting and developing heritage to inspire communities and promote cohesion. It supports organisations across the UK to deliver valued and necessary work in redeveloping heritage. We are so thankful to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for supporting this project!
Reading Museum has been displaying Reading’s history and art since 1883. They’ve have been committed supporters to Support U’s heritage and activism endeavours. Special thanks to Brendan Carr for diversifying the Reading Museum display and providing us with a venue for community talks!
Support Partnerships

Queer Rural Connections
This fantastic project, led by Timothy Allsop and Dr Kira Allmann with the theare and education company, Turn of Phrase, will create a filmed documentary and live theatre piece to explore queer rural lives and connections. The project secured support by the University of Oxford’s, TORCH research centre in the humanities. With interesting and thought-provoking research provided by Broken Futures, MERL, Pride in Suffolk’s Past and other research projects, Queer Rural Connections will explore the recollection of queer rural stories and voices.
The Broken Futures project and team are excited to be work and support alongside Tim and the project leaders for Queer Rural Connections! To learn more about their project please click here.