GIRES: Our Next Chapter – Building the Digital Infrastructure Trans Lives Deserve
Thanks to our successful crowdfunder, we’re moving from firefighting to future-building. We’re repositioning GIRES with a new digital infrastructure to create reliable knowledge, practical tools, and lasting impact for trans+ communities and those who support them.
This transformation will position GIRES as the leading evidence-based knowledge hub on trans+ lives in the UK, connecting research, education and practical resources to create lasting, measurable improvements in inclusion, care and public understanding of trans+ lives.
Note: When we use the term trans+ (trans plus), it includes transgender, non-binary, gender fluid, and all other forms of gender diverse identities.
Why this, why now?
The information ecosystem around trans+ lives is fragmented: research is scattered, service directories are dated or hard to navigate, and training quality varies widely. At the same time, there is an urgent need for long-term, system-level change, requiring multi-year investment.
In response, we’re repositioning GIRES to serve as a national knowledge and resource platform for both trans+ communities and the organisations that work with and support them. This refocus is to be implemented through a modern, user-optimised website, accessible resources, a new research hub, and a nationwide community network portal – delivering reliable knowledge, practical tools, and measurable impact for trans+ communities, professionals, and policymakers.
What we’re building
A new website: Showcasing free resources and ensuring full accessibility
The new site will feature improved user experience (UX) for different audience groups, clear navigation, and a modern structure optimised for search and visibility, particularly those with additional access needs. Our goal is for the GIRES website to be recognised both online and offline as a sector leader in trans+ education, research, and knowledge.
The Research Hub: Making trans+ research open and shareable
This will be a curated, searchable portal of trans+-related research, offering plain English summaries and shareable briefs, alongside deep links for academics and engaged professionals. It will also be optimised for sharing, ensuring that accurate, evidence-based information about trans+ lives is available at people’s fingertips whenever they need it.
TranzWiki 2.0: Connecting people to real-world support
A refreshed, UK-wide directory of trans+ support and services, featuring better search functionality, clear categories, and regularly updated listings. TranzWiki 2.0 will also provide easier self-service functionality for trans charities and organisations to update their details. Alongside this, GIRES plans to create a new TranzWiki Business portal, giving private service providers, businesses, and brands that serve the trans+ community a way to communicate their products and offers directly so that trans+ people can find what they need easily.
Improved Training Platform: Raising standards through evidence-based learning
This will include ‘train-the-trainer’ pathways and resource packs for HR departments and EDI professionals who want to deliver credible trans+ inclusion content in-house or as an extension of their existing service. It will also support individual trans+ people who are asked to speak about their experiences by providing reliable, affirming, materials based on reputable evidence. In addition, GIRES will continue to develop niche training at key intersections with trans+ lives, including safeguarding, end-of-life care, and autism. This will support our existing online and in-person training provisions to organisations and individuals.
Together, these elements form an integrated digital infrastructure for trans+ inclusion where research informs resources, resources enhance training, and data from all areas continuously improves accessibility, reach, and impact. All with the objective of improving trans+ people’s lives.
How change happens
At GIRES, our vision is simple: when accurate information is easy to find and use, inclusion follows. Our digital transformation will make that possible by connecting research, resources and real-world experience in one place.
We’re combining GIRES’ 25 years of expertise, trusted partnerships, and volunteer commitment – supported by ethical data practices and targeted investment – to build a lasting infrastructure for change.
We’ll gather and translate research into plain-language insight, create and deliver inclusive resources and training, and use feedback and analytics to drive ongoing improvement. It’s a continuous cycle: research informs resources, resources strengthen practice, and learning from users feeds back into policy and progress.
Our goals
The digital transformation directly supports GIRES’ wider mission of using evidence to drive real-world inclusion, care and equality. Over the next three years, we are focused on five key outcomes:
- Make knowledge accessible
Bring trans+ research, resources and guidance together in one trusted place, written in plain language and optimised for sharing. - Improve access to support
Ensure trans+ people, their families, and professionals can quickly find relevant, up-to-date services (locally and online) and information that meet their needs. - Raise standards and confidence
Equip individuals and organisations to deliver high-quality, evidence-based knowledge and training that leads to measurable change in practice and culture. - Measure what matters
Collect feedback and data across all platforms to understand impact, close gaps, and continuously improve accessibility and outcomes. - Strengthen trust and transparency
Demonstrate good governance, ethical practice and accountability so partners, funders and users can invest and engage with confidence.
We’ll know we’ve succeeded when people find what they need easily, organisations act on evidence, and policymakers draw on GIRES insight to shape future guidance, policies and services.
Why this matters, and what it enables
This isn’t just a website upgrade. It’s the foundation for a national digital resource for trans+ inclusion: a shared space where credible evidence meets everyday practice. This digital transformation will serve as shared infrastructure for the entire sector, a foundation that charities, researchers and service providers can build on together.
For funders and partners, it offers:
- A clear path from investment to impact, linking digital infrastructure to measurable improvements in care, education and workplace inclusion.
- A transparent, evidence-led organisation with an active learning cycle and the expertise to scale what works.
- A trusted partner in advancing equality through practical, research-driven solutions.
How you can get involved
We’re inviting collaborators, supporters and changemakers to join us on this journey.
- Partner with us. Support the build and first-year rollout of the new digital infrastructure – the first steps of our wider 5-year plan.
- Co-create. Work with us to shape priorities, build infrastructure, or contribute expertise – whether you’re a university, business team, charity or special interest organisation.
- Share your voice. Take part in our surveys and help shape the future of trans-inclusive knowledge and services. Our first public survey focusing on Website & Resources launches later this month.
We’re now inviting early funder and partner conversations ahead of the first development phase starting in early 2026. We’re particularly interested in hearing from grant-giving or funding organisations looking to invest in an accountable, sustainable, and change-making charity.
You can get in touch with us through our contact page, or by emailing: support-us@gires.org.uk
GIRES has always stood for evidence, dignity and practical change. With your support, we can turn that legacy into a living digital infrastructure that makes trans+ inclusion simple, accessible, and lasting for everyone who needs it.