Donate Contact Us 0300 330 0630 About us We have provided support and information to millions of people since our phone started ringing in 1974. Throughout our history, we have been at the forefront of supporting our communities in facing the issues of the day. Phone us 0300 330 0630 Open 10:00-22:00 every day Chat closed Please check again tomorrow Email us chris@switchboard.lgbt Emails are typically replied to within 72 hours The Switchboard Promise To talk things through. We don't finish a call until you tell us. Everything is confidential. You can trust us. We are you too. All our volunteers self-define as LGBT+ Founded on March 4th 1974 Switchboard’s information and support helpline operated for five hours every evening in a small room above a bookshop near Kings Cross Station. We’re here to help you with whatever you want to talk about. Nothing is off limits, and we understand how anxious you might feel before you pick up the phone. Our mission statement We are Switchboard, the LGBT+ Helpline. We are a safe space for anyone to discuss anything, including sexuality, gender identity, sexual health and emotional well-being. We support people to explore the right options for themselves. We aspire to a society where all LGBT+ people are informed and empowered. Our values Non-judgemental Inclusive Committed Empowering Supportive Informed Download our statement of inclusion Switchboard through the decades 1970s In the 1970s, we helped support people coming out after the 1967 partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality and provided much needed signposting to the newly developing ‘gay scene’. 1980s In the 1980s we were the leading source of information on the then new and unknown disease of HIV/AIDS. As the effect on our communities became apparent, we collated and maintained a detailed manual of the latest and most up-to-date information available. We not only shared this with the many frightened callers to our helpline but also with the general public, as our volunteers staffed the BBC helplines to take calls after programmes about HIV and AIDS. Organising a public meeting in 1983, our volunteers went on to set up some of the up the UK’s leading HIV charities, such as Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) and National AIDS Manual (NAM). 1990s In the 1990s our support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans communities was never more evident than throughout the aftermath of the bombing of the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho in 1999, when volunteers not only answered hundreds of calls from concerned friends and relatives, but also helped many people deal with the after-effects of the attack in the following months. Now In the new millennium we have witnessed huge changes in legal equality and LGBT+ information is much more accessible, however our services are still very much needed. We continue to provide support on the phone, and through our email and instant messaging services, to people from across the UK. They may be feeling isolated in their community, they may be coming out and want to talk to somebody who has also been through it, they may have an issue that is concerning them and need to talk it through with somebody who will not judge them, they may want to ask how to put a condom on without being embarrassed, or they may just need to know where they can meet other people in their area. Our volunteers will continue to provide support and information to these people until the day our phones stop ringing. Page last updated at 14:56 04/08/2021 Switchboard PO Box 7324 London N1 9QS Switchboard LGBT+ Registered Charity 296193 About us How we can help Help when we’re closed Support Us Volunteer Contact / Complaints In the news Meet the Team Our celebrated patrons Supporting Organisations Media & Press Switchboard Shop Cookie Policy Privacy Policy Safe browsing page Feedback Form Vacancies Subscribe We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Privacy Policy Okay