Just Like Us is the charity
for LGBT+ young people
Empowering them from the
classroom to their careers
is our purpose
About us
Just Like Us was founded for a simple reason: growing up LGBT+ is still unacceptably tough.
Our mission is to empower young people to champion LGBT+ equality. We want all young people to know that being LGBT+ is something to be celebrated.
LGBT+ young people still face unacceptable levels of lesbophobia, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia – 85% still regularly hear homophobic remarks (Prescient for Just Like Us, 2019).
These experiences can have a life-long negative impact and, while young people are struggling, their teachers and peers are rarely equipped with the information they need to support them.
In the workplace, too, LGBT+ young people often lack the confidence to be themselves – 35% of 18 to 29-year-old LGBT+ people are not out to any of their colleagues.
To change this, we run three programmes across the UK:
The Ambassador Programme
We partner with employers to train LGBT+ volunteers to further our mission. Our ambassadors are aged 18–25 and take part in a wide range of activities from school and workplace talks, creating content, writing about their experiences, to fundraising and running campaigns.
Pride Groups
Our Pride Groups programme trains educators and school staff to support pupils in establishing and running Pride Groups. These are student-led and create a safe, welcoming space for LGBT+ pupils and allies to talk about LGBT+ topics, socialise and find community. Pride Groups are an integral part of our work in making education more inclusive and the programme runs all year round – including
School Diversity Week
Our annual initiative, School Diversity Week, empowers school staff and pupils across the UK to tackle homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic bullying by organising activities that celebrate LGBT+ equality in education. In 2020, schools and colleges representing 1.9 million young people signed up to take part in School Diversity Week, demonstrating to their pupils that being LGBT+ is something to be celebrated. The next School Diversity Week will take place in June 2021.
We're proud to consult with the NSPCC on all our procedures around working with young people.
Support Just Like Us
If you would like to support our work as an individual, group or employee network, please visit our donation page where you can find more information and inspiration for fundraising. You can find more about our corporate partnerships here. Thank you for your support.
Have a question? Contact us.
Who we serve
Young people
We provide LGBT+ volunteers aged 18–25 with the skills they need to be role models in schools and colleges, and future leaders in the workplace
Schools and colleges
We help schools and colleges to tackle anti-LGBT+ bullying, meet Ofsted's Inspectorate Framework