 | Highlights of the Past Year |
The charity’s capability and stature have continued to increase. It combines the expertise of a growing and largely voluntary team of trans and non trans people, including: Louis Bailey, Helen Belcher, Nic Bray, Judi Brown, Kate Craig-Wood, Simon Croft. Richard Curtis, Paula Dooley, Sylvia Dooley, John Douglas, Maureen Douglas, Megan Douglas, Janine Elliot, Louis Gooren, Joyce Gould, Jenny Gradidge, Holly Hayes, Bill Hender, David Hender, Suzy Hughes, Nicci MacGillivray, Celia Macleod, Joyce Martin, Laura Miles, Zoe-Jane Playdon, Alison Price, , , , Naechane Romeo, Heather Salmon, Ben Siggery, Milo Twiselton, Susie Withers, Kevan Wylie, and Donald Yule. The team undertakes the wide range of work described below and ensures that the charity is robustly governed.
The charity is supported by over 350 individual members, making annual subscriptions and one-off donations. In addition, it has begun to recruit Corporate Members.
GIRES wishes to record its gratitude to all the many people and organisations who contribute to its work and enable the charity to continue improving the lives of trans people and their families.
The charity’s financial position has been further strengthened. In 2009, its income was £55,822, out of which it expended £51,917, resulting in a surplus of £3,845. It derived 21% of its income from grants and fees related to the work it undertakes. Its basic running costs (£8,208) were amply covered by its reliable income from members, donors and recovered tax (£23,610). At the year end, the cash balance was £34,483, including £15,494 unrestricted funds.
The main elements of the charity's work were:
Research: The award of a £5,000 research grant to the University of Warwick, to help fund a long term study of trans people's experiences during medical care. One of the charity’s trustees generously funded two travel bursaries of £1,500 to enable families to visit Boston, USA and assess the medical treatment available there for their gender variant youngsters.
Policy Development: GIRES has worked with the Government Equalities Office, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Ministry of Justice, the Home Office, the Department of Health, the Department for Children, Schools and Families, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, the Royal College of Nursing, the BBC and the Equality and Diversity Forum. It was represented on the Parliamentary Forum on Gender Identity. The charity's aim is to ensure that existing and proposed legislation and practices best serve the needs of trans people, focusing particularly on the Gender Recognition Act (2004), the Equality Act (2010) and the current NHS White Paper. Since taking office, senior ministers in the Coalition government have made a special effort to consult with GIRES. The charity has also advised a number of local organisations on their transgender policies, including Surrey County Council, Norfolk County Council, Greater London Authority, Surrey Police, Surrey Primary Care NHS Trust, Gloucestershire Primary CARE NHS Trust, Kent & Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust, West London Mental Health Trust, and South West London & St George's Mental Health NHS Trust. In two instances, this work included arranging trans focus groups.Mbr/>
Transphobic Crime Reporting: With funding from the Home Office, GIRES launched, at the 2010 Sparkle event in Manchester, a national system that enables trans people, together with witnesses and others, to report the horrific crime that many experience: www.TCrime.net GIRES is a member of the Spotlight Group, which Galop has established to integrate LGB&T crime reporting in London.
Transphobic Bullying Toolkit for Schools: The Gires toolkit was funded by the Home Office and is used by schools in supporting transgender pupils and staff.
Support for Individual Schools: GIRES has supported four schools with the transition of staff or pupils.
Mapping Trans Support Services: GIRES has self-funded a directory of the national and local groups that support trans people: www.TranzWiki.net
Training: The Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) commissioned GIRES to develop a national programme of workshops on transgender equality for professionals in further education. GIRES has also provided training for the Government Equalities Office, Surrey County Council, Kent County Council, Maidstone Borough Council, Kent Police, Metropolitan Police Service, Kent & Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust, Suffolk Outreach Youth Service.
E-Learning: GIRES provided the content for the LSIS transgender equality e-learning system, which is designed to educate professionals in the further education sector. It is currently developing an e-learning system for local authorities, funded by the Department for Communities and Local and Local Government.
Family Workshops: Three members of the charity arranged a workshop in their home in Cambridge for the families of trans people. This proved so popular that a second workshop was run two weeks later.
Presentations: These included LGBT Health (Hatfield), TG10 (Norwich), National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (London), National Association for the Care and Rehabilitation of Offenders (Crewe), National Trans Police Association (Bramshill), Spectrum London, TransLondon, General Teaching Council (London), Gender Matters (Wolverhampton), LSIS (London), Greater London Authority.
Literature: The charity produces a wide range of literature for trans people, families and professionals, including a series of booklets published by the Department of Health. It has distributed 40,000 printed copies of its printed leaflet “Transgender Experiences”. LSIS commissioned GIRES to develop a briefing document on transgender equality for the governors of further education institutions. GIRES is publishing a new edition of its guidelines for employers, which reflects the Equality Act 2010.
Information Service: GIRES handles a daily stream of requests for information from trans people and those who care for them, as well from the media.
Website: The charity's website received 97,771 visits (61,996 previous year) with 242,663 (180,552) page views from 183 countries.
Collaboration with Other Groups: GIRES collaborates with Mermaids, Beaumont Trust, The Gender Trust, Transgender Resource and Education Centre, Gender Matters, Gendered Intelligence and also Trans Media Watch (regarding Ofcom, the BBC and the PCC), as well as the LGBT Consortium, Kairos in Soho and Stonewall. GIRES joined with 11 other organizations to form the National LGB&T Partnership, which will collaborate to influence the policy, practice and actions of government and statutory bodies, in particular the Department of Health, for the benefit of all LGB&T people and communities in England.
Governance: the charity's financial controls and security arrangements are robust. Its accounts are prepared and audited by qualified professionals and it is advised by its Security Officer.
OBE Awards: The work of GIRES has been acknowledged in The Queen's Birthday Honours list, published on 12 June 2010. Two of its trustees, Bernard and Terry Reed, have been awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in recognition of their services to the charity.
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