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FREE ASC Transgender Training

24/01/2012

Do you know how to support a person undergoing gender reassignment?
Would you feel confident in giving support, advice and guidance to ensure they could access appropriate services? Would you be able to support a trans colleague?

With the introduction of The Equality Act 2010, the public sector has a statutory duty to promote equality and set equality objectives.  Sexuality and gender reassignment are separate protected characteristics under this legislation.

Surrey County Council's single equality scheme estimates, based on national data on prevalence, that there were approximately 370 people who had sought medical help for gender variance at the time of the 2001 census  (although the proportion of the population doing so is generally recognised to be increasing). There is a far larger number of people who experience some gender variance but conceal it because they fear the sometimes devastating consequences of being discovered.

While all our services are in principle open to everyone, in practice there are  barriers to transgender people in accessing services and they have distinctive needs.  They, along with others, are known to be at more risk of issues such as, higher dependency on alcohol and drug use, isolation, poor mental health, violence, self-harm, suicide and murder.  Trans people commonly have issues with documentation, changing personal details, privacy etc.  They may be at particular risk of direct discrimination from service providers, even within the public sector.
 
The aim of this training is to address concerns about social care for ageing and disabled trans people. The training will be facilitated by GIRES (Gender Identity Research and Education Society), a national charity which provides information and support on gender identity issues, based just outside Leatherhead.  They provide training and advice to local public sector bodies and campaign and carry out research nationally.
 
We will be running two half day sessions, one in the morning and another in the afternoon, on Monday 6 February 2012,
at The Runnymede Centre.

The morning session will run from 9:30 to 12:30.

The afternoon session will run from 13:30 to 16:30.

Coffee will be available on arrival half an hour before each session.

How to book

To book onto the course please check with your line manager then e-mail adults.strategicsupport@surreycc.gov.uk or call
Tim Coward on 01483 518814.

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