News / Bristol Mind
MindLine Trans+ launches fundraising appeal to expand services
MindLine Trans+ is raising money to expand their emotional support helpline.
Part of Bristol Mind, MindLine Trans+ is a national helpline and started receiving calls in February 2017. Since then, it has operated on a Monday and Friday evening, from 8pm to midnight, with transgender and non-binary people able to call a volunteer anonymously, who can give support and signpost to other resources.
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Although the helpline is currently open two evenings a week, this is simply not enough time to support the UK’s trans and non-binary community. MindLine Trans+ hopes to raise £10,000, to help reach people in hard to reach areas.
Part of the funding will help the training and support of call handlers by staff and some will cover is the publicity of the service in rural areas and the coordination this will involve.
Studies from Rethink and the Mental Health Foundation show that transgender and non-binary people are at higher risk of experiencing poor mental health at a greater risk of hate crime.
Additionally, a mental health study showed that 88 per cent of transgender people had experienced depression and 84 per cent had thought of ending their life.
MindLine Trans+ has been receiving calls since February 10, 2017. Photo courtesy of Bristol Mind
“We started the set-up process in September 2016, after National Mind held a LGBTQ+ and Mental Health Conference in Bristol earlier in the year,” explains Liz Sorpure, the project coordinator for MindLine Trans+. “Concerns were raised of the lack of trans-specific mental health services.
“Consultation with the trans specific community highlighted the need to recruit transgender volunteers who our callers would feel comfortable talking to.
“One advantage we did have in the process was that while about one per cent of population in the UK identifies as trans, Bristol has a large trans population.”
This makes it easier for the charity to recruit volunteers who are able to empathize and understand what callers are going through.
The increased number of trans people, and people identifying as LGBTQ+, in Bristol’s population also means the Bristol Mind operates a specific LGBTQ+ counselling service in Bristol, as well as the UK-wide MindLine Trans+.
The helpline provides a safe place for people to talk about feelings confidentially. As well as being is a confidential emotional, mental health support helpline for people who identify as transgender and non-binary, the service also supports family members and friends and provides signposting to other services and resources.
MindLine Trans+ is an invaluable resource for not only Bristol, but the trans population across the UK. The £10,000 funding goal will help the service not only continue to help an increasingly vulnerable community, but widen their reach to even more trans people in need.
Main photo courtesy of Bristol Mind
Donate to the fundraiser at www.avivacommunityfund.co.uk/mindline-trans
If you need support, visit www.mindlinetrans.org.uk
Read more: New singing project for the trans and non-binary community
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