World-famous soul singer Heather Small achieved huge success in the 1990s with the group M People, selling over 10 million albums worldwide, before embarking on a solo career, with hits including Proud. Heather has been a supporter of the Iris Prize for many years, performing during the festival’s awards show in 2017 and returning in 2018 as a member of the International Jury. She joins Iris as a patron with the objective of increasing awareness for Iris’s work in sharing LGBT+ stories with a new audience.