Paul Thurlow was a volunteer on the Islington's Pride LGBTQ+ archives project at the Islington Local History Centre and later became a volunteer with the Islington Local History Centre. He is a long-term resident of Islington and an active member of the LGBTQ+ community having volunteered with many organisations including Gay Switchboard. He also actively participated in many events and activities.
Scope and Content
A4, 20 pages black & white, with red, pink, black and white cover. Souvenir programme for the first "Pretty Policeman's Ball" gala benefit event held at the Piccadilly Theatre on Sunday October 21st 1984, to raise funds for Gay Switchboard (later known as Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, and then just Switchboard) to buy and equip premises of their own. Includes an introduction by Lisa Power (then Acting Chair of Switchboard), a section by the director for the event, Philip Hedley (then director of the Theatre Royal, Stratford) and adverts for many of the LGBTQ+ entertainment venues, organisations, publications and business at the time. The title was a play on the title of the series of similar fundraising events for Amnesty International held in London, beginning in 1976, called "The Secret Policeman's Ball". Performers included Bronski Beat (including Jimmy Somerville), Georgina Hale, Simon Callow, The Joey's, Ned Sherrin, Tom Robinson, Gaye Brown, Tudor Davies, Sheila Smith, Alan Pope, Peter Whitman, Bernard Padden, Simon Fanshawe, James Mawe, Lynda Baron, Geoffrey Burridge, Miriam Margolyes, Sheila Seafel, Christopher Asante, Mark Bunyan, Elaine Loudon, Fay Presto, Ian Bowater, Yvonne D'alpra, Robert Dawi, Jim Dunk, Christine Pilgrim, Marcel Steiner and Kate Williams. Adverts include those for The London Aprentice bar in Old Street, Gay's The Word bookshop, Heaven night club, Gay Times and Him magazines, Brilliance Books, The Royal Oak in Hackney, Out monthly newspaper, the London Lesbian and Gay Centre in Clerkenwell, Gay Men's Press, Capital Gay weekly newspaper, and Bolts nightclub in Harringay.
