Community Partnerships Lead | Sahir House | 2024 to 2025

Between August 2024 and August 2025, John Hyland served as Community Partnerships and Individual Giving Lead at Sahir House, Liverpool’s oldest LGBTQ+ and HIV charity, founded in 1985 and operating across the Liverpool City Region.

The role sat at the intersection of external relationship building, fundraising development, digital communications, and community engagement. In practice, it stretched considerably further than the job description.

The Snapshot

Role: Community Partnerships and Individual Giving Lead
Organisation: Sahir House
Tenure: August 2024 to August 2025
Focus areas: Stakeholder and partnership development, individual giving, social media and digital content, community engagement, event coordination

Raising the Charity’s Profile

A significant part of the role involved increasing Sahir’s visibility, both among potential donors and partners, and within the wider LGBTQ+ community it serves.

This included direct outreach to local businesses, organisations, and high-profile individuals to build awareness of the charity and develop relationships with the potential to grow into fundraising, sponsorship, or longer-term partnership.

Among the visits and engagements facilitated during this period was a visit from Dame Angela Eagle DBE MP, Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum, which coincided with National HIV Testing Week and generated positive press coverage for the charity. Read the coverage here.

A meeting with Olly Alexander, one of the UK’s most prominent LGBTQ+ musicians and public figures, resulted in a mention of Sahir on national television, extending the charity’s reach to a significantly wider audience. That moment was captured on video.

Digital and Content

Sahir’s social media and website content saw a significant increase in activity and visibility during this period. A blog programme was established on the charity’s website, serving both as a community engagement tool and an SEO development initiative.

Content included guest blogs from community members and partner organisations, LGBTQ+ History Month personal stories, World AIDS Day reflections, service updates, and event coverage. The programme brought in external voices including Liverpool Frontrunners, individual community members sharing personal stories, and partners across the region.

Blog and news activity on the Sahir website was notably higher during this tenure than before or since, reflecting a deliberate strategy to build the charity’s digital presence and searchability.

The Pound for Sahir Appeal

An individual giving campaign, the Pound for Sahir appeal, was developed during this period as a way of encouraging a large number of people to give small, regular amounts that would accumulate into meaningful income for the charity.

The appeal took on an unexpected and profound significance when a post promoting it, shared by a high-profile public figure with a deep personal connection to Sahir, became their final social media post before their sudden passing in January 2025. That post alone generated donations from supporters across the globe, reaching audiences the charity could never have anticipated and bringing international attention to Sahir’s work at a deeply difficult moment.

Coverage of the appeal and its significance was carried by Metro, ITV Granada, LBC, and many others.

Community Response to Bereavement

Following the sudden passing of a much-loved Liverpool LGBTQ+ icon in January 2025, Sahir took a leading role in coordinating the city’s community response.

This included facilitating a Book of Condolences at the Museum of Liverpool, with the physical book donated by John Lewis, giving the public a dignified and accessible space to record their tributes over several days.

Sahir also led the organisation of a public vigil at St George’s Plateau, which drew approximately 1,000 people and generated national and international press coverage across BBC, ITV, Sky News, PinkNews, The Mirror, The Independent, and many others. That event is documented in full in a separate case study.

Read the vigil case study here

Pride 2025

When LCR Pride Foundation announced it would not be delivering Pride in Liverpool in 2025, Sahir stepped in to coordinate a community-led response. The groundwork for that response was laid during this tenure.

A key piece of relationship brokering brought together the CEOs of Sahir and Liverpool BID Company, establishing the partnership that would underpin Sahir’s ability to facilitate Pride 2025. A Queer Town Hall was led and facilitated, bringing the Liverpool LGBTQ+ community together to discuss what Pride could look like and what it would take to make it happen. Initial stakeholder meetings were attended before the role concluded in August 2025.

Sahir went on to deliver Liverpool’s Pride 2025 and was subsequently awarded the British LGBT Award for Community Impact, with judges specifically recognising the charity’s role in securing the future of Pride in Liverpool.

Governance

The role also involved significant involvement in a full refresh of Sahir’s Board of Trustees, supporting the recruitment process that brought an entirely new board into place during this period.

What This Demonstrates

  • Stakeholder and partnership development across public, corporate, and community organisations
  • High-profile relationship management and facilitation
  • Individual giving campaign development
  • Digital content strategy and execution, including SEO-focused blogging and social media
  • Rapid community response coordination under sensitive and high-pressure circumstances
  • Event facilitation including public community engagement and Queer Town Hall
  • Strategic relationship brokering between senior organisational leaders
  • Governance support including trustee recruitment

This work was carried out in an employed capacity at Sahir House between August 2024 and August 2025.

For consultancy, community engagement, partnerships, or communications work, get in touch at hey@proudlysaid.co.uk