Gay campaigning charity Stonewall has announced plans to extend its strategic lobbying to include overseas work, following approval from the Charity Commission.

Stonewall chair David Isaac said the move was prompted by a supporter survey which found members felt that as the legislative landscape in Britain was almost equalised, the importance of international work had grown.

“Having canvassed a wide sample of our supporters during the last 12 months and reviewed our obligations under charity law,” said Isaac, “we’re clear that our lobbying and research teams now have the opportunity to influence overseas without undermining the important work – such as our pioneering Education for All programme – to which we’re absolutely committed in Britain. 

"We look forward to working with other groups seeking to deliver change internationally. As Stonewall will seek to influence from within the UK our focus will, we hope, complement the work of others."

Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill added: “Having achieved almost all of those legal changes, we’re now in a stronger position to commend Britain’s legislative framework to other countries around the world. The dogged support of tens of thousands of individual donors means that we’re one of the few charities in the country whose income has continued to grow throughout the recession.

"That commitment means that involvement in overseas advocacy will not dilute any of our existing domestic activities; we retain our ambition to make Britain a worldwide beacon for equality.”

A special resolution formally to adopt Stonewall’s new charitable object will be considered at a meeting of the charity’s board on October 25.