Sunday 31 March marks International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV). TDOV is dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people in wider society.
To mark this occasion, we are absolutely delighted to announce our partnership with Sparkle. Sparkle is the national transgender and gender diverse charity, based in Manchester. Their main purpose is to provide a safe space for transgender and gender diverse people, as well as offering guidance and training to businesses, educational institutions, and public sector organisations on how to support gender variant colleagues, service users, and customers.
As leading experts on transgender and gender diverse issues, through lived experience, they will be a key partner for the Trust as we continue to enhance our understanding of issues faced within the community, and how we can optimise the care we give to transgender and gender diverse colleagues and patients across our services.
Peter Blythin, our LGBTQ+ Executive Lead for the LGBTQ+ at the Trust, said: “Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust welcomes the opportunity to work collaboratively with Sparkle with the primary aim of empowering Trans patients to access our services with confidence that they will be treated with compassion, dignity and respect. Through partnership working MFT is keen to learn from Sparkle, particularly in terms of raising awareness and educating staff to ensure services are welcoming and accessible.”
This partnership allows MFT to collaborate and learn from subject-matter experts in Trans and gender diverse issues, fusing lived experience with medical and care giving expertise to create a robust model that serves all people and communities equally. For Sparkle, our partnership is an opportunity to share best practice with the Trust, and work together to improve the healthcare landscape for all.
Having this strong relationship with subject experts is a significant step in demonstrating our commitment to growth and inclusivity as a healthcare provider, and we are excited to work with Sparkle to ensure that we deliver high quality patient care, and an empowering, safe working environment, for everyone at MFT.
We hope you will join us in celebrating this fantastic partnership.