Transpiration Wellbeing and Lancashire Wildlife Trust launch nature and wellbeing courses
Funding has been secured by a new local organisation, Transpiration Wellbeing, to run two eight-week nature and wellbeing courses, plus a weekend residential specifically designed for people who are trans, non-binary or gender questioning.
Transpiration Wellbeing, a new Lancaster-based wellbeing project, run for and by the trans+ community, will be working with The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside’s The Bay: A blueprint for recovery project, who have a wealth of nature-based wellbeing experience to run the courses.
Trans and non-binary people often suffer with significantly more mental health issues due to a range of challenges they face, including gender dysphoria, social stigma, discrimination and a lack of available gender affirming care.
In a week where a decision has been made by the UK Supreme Court, preventing trans women from being legally recognised as women, the need for safe spaces and support for transgender and non-binary people becomes more important than ever, and Transpiration Wellbeing and Lancashire Wildlife Trust support the transgender and non-binary community fully.
LGBT+ Futures: Equity Fund is a two-year £596,855 partnership between Consortium and The National Lottery Community Fund, designed to help community-led and grassroot organisations supporting some of the most under-represented and marginalised LGBTQ+ communities.
The £9,985 awarded to Transpiration Wellbeing will be used to provide a safe and welcoming environment for local Trans and Non-binary people with weekly wellbeing sessions centered around the theme ‘nature is for everyone’.
Alex Blomfield, Nature and Wellbeing Officer for The Bay and founder of Transpiration Wellbeing said “We’re really excited to be launching Transpiration Wellbeing with the support of The Wildlife Trusts. As a grass-roots project we couldn’t have this level of impact without support from organisations like Lancashire Wildlife Trust and Consortium. We’re so excited to show that nature really is for everyone.”
Across the Wildlife Trusts, there are several staff networks for under-represented groups, with one of these being Out For Nature, a network for LGBTQ+ staff members and allies.
The chair of Out For Nature, Finley Reynolds has said: “It is wonderful that The Bay is able to support wellbeing sessions for the trans and non-binary community. As an organisation, we have a workforce where around 15% of our staff identify as being LGBTQ+, and so for our staff to be able to provide a safe space in nature for the trans and non-binary community is a wonderful way to support a marginalised group of individuals.”
The Bay is a collaborative wellbeing project, run between Lancashire Wildlife Trust, the Eden Project, Cumbria Wildlife Trust and Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust.