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The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland
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FOCUS: THE IDENTITY TRUST

  • Status

    Received: 93 days late

  • Income

    £0.0K

  • Spending

    £2.6K

Charity no. 100557 Date registered. 11/02/2015

Public benefits

1. The Advancement of the Human Rights of Transgender and Intersex individuals. Transgender and Intersex individuals experience prejudice, hatred and discrimination in all areas of their lives. The Trust provides direct benefit to that section of society which identifies itself as Transgender or Intersex , together with their families, by awareness

raising, training and education of society at large on the prejudice hate and discrimination endured on a daily basis by Transgender and Intersex individuals and their families, thus highlighting the lack of enjoyment of rights everyone else takes for granted. The advancement of these rights will be demonstrable in changes to legislation, policies and procedures for which the Trust has directly lobbied, responded to individual consultations and also by changes in attitude recorded in the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland’s (ECNI) regular reviews of attitudes in Northern Ireland. It will also be possible to guage the impact of the Trust in advancing the Human Rights and Equality of Transgender and Intersex individuals and their families by the number of specific initiatives included and implemented within the revised Gender Equality Strategy recommended to OFMDFM by the 2 members of FOCUS: THE IDENTITY TRUST who sit on the Gender Advisory Panel which is assisting OFMDFM to review and monitor the revised Strategy. 2.The Advancement of Health of its Beneficiaries. It is well known from worldwide research that over 40% of Transgender individuals who present for treatment for their Gender Dysphoria have attempted suicide at least once. We provide direct benefit to members of our support groups by the provision of safe welcoming spaces where they can talk openly amongst peers , who are the only ones to truly understand their issues and concerns and provide mutual support to help individuals cope and move through transition to be the person they truly are. We will be able to demonstrate and evidence our success in this area by regular monitoring of satisfaction surveys of the members of our various support groups across Northern Ireland. We will also keep confidential record of the individual issues members have been provided direct support or advocacy around. 3.The Advancement of Education around Transgender Issues. Prejudice and discrimination often stem from ignorance and fear. We provide direct benefit to our beneficiaries by developing and delivering education on the issues that affect Transgender and Intersex individuals and their families, thus helping to break down barriers to understanding and decrease ignorance and fear. The increasing number of people from Statutory and Non-statutory Agencies would point towards the success of this strategy. Again changes in societal attitudes towards Transgender individuals can be gauged in changes in attitudes in the general population as recorded in ECNI’s regular attitudinal surveys surrounding marginalized groups in Northern Ireland.It will also be possible to review changes in the number of reported and recorded Hate Crimes and Hate incidents relating to Transgender Individuals and their Families as recorded and reported on by PSNI, although it should be noted that initially at least there may appear to be an increase in these areas ( this will hopefully de due to the direct influence of the Trust in encouraging our Beneficiaries to report these incidents to PSNI as we are aware of massive under reporting at present) . These education sessions are designed and delivered by our volunteers who get the indirect benefit of developing their own self-esteem and learning new skills in the presentation of complex information to groups and individuals, skills which are readily transferrable to the labour market. 4. The Advancement of Citizenship and Community Development... [Further information can be obtained by contacting the Charity Commission for NI]

What your organisation does

FOCUS's core work is providing peer support to Transgender and Intersex individuals and their families. The Trust helps ease the sense of isolation universally experienced by these people by providing a meeting place where experiences can be shared, permits individuals to talk about the difficulties of Transition to the acquired gender, offers help

and advice on practical issues such as name change, documentation, how to deal with family relationships and offers a listening ear in a safe, confidential and welcoming environment. Traditionally, Transgender and Intersex individuals have been marginalised and discriminated against by mainstream society in education, housing, employment and healthcare . This has often been fuelled by ignorance of our conditions. To redress this there is a clear need for research into our conditions, their causes, incidence and how we are treated. In addition there is a need for education and training at all levels of society on our conditions and how they affect us and our families. To facilitate this the Trust offers information, education and training to Government, its Agencies and Private Sector Employers to demystify the issues, dispel myths and promote understanding in order to ultimately eradicate Transphobia and promote acceptance of Intersex individuals. At present even though Transgender and Intersex individuals are generally successful in education and their careers prior to Transition they are more likely to be in poorly paid or voluntary work post- Transition. They often suffer from mental health issues and physical ill-health due to the stresses of living with their condition. The Trust provides support and guidance which helps disapate these effects to the extent that they often disappear completely once the Transition process has been completed. By offering its services the Trust enables Transgender and Intersex individuals to contribute to society to their maximium potential and cease being a drain on scarce resources.

The charity’s classifications

  • The advancement of education
  • The advancement of health or the saving of lives
  • The advancement of citizenship or community development
  • The advancement of human rights, conflict resolution or reconciliation or the promotion of religious or racial harmony or equality and diversity

Who the charity helps

  • Addictions (drug/solvent/alcohol abuse)
  • Community safety/crime prevention
  • Homelessness
  • Men
  • Mental health
  • Older people
  • Parents
  • Physical disabilities
  • Sensory disabilities
  • Unemployed/low income
  • Victim support
  • Voluntary and community sector
  • Volunteers
  • Women

How the charity works

  • Advice/advocacy/information
  • Community development
  • Counselling/support
  • Disability
  • Education/training
  • Gender
  • Human rights/equality
  • Medical/health/sickness
  • Research/evaluation
  • Volunteer development
  • Youth development

Charity accounts & reports for financial year end 31 March 2024

Independent examiners report Charity accounts Trustee annual report

Charity accounts & reports for financial year end 31 March 2023

Independent examiners report Charity accounts Trustee annual report

Charity accounts & reports for financial year end 31 March 2022

Independent examiners report Charity accounts Trustee annual report

Charitable purposes

The Trust is established for the promotion of equality, diversity and human rights, the promotion of social inclusion, the advancement of education,[the promotion, protection and preservation of physical, emotional and mental health and wellbeing and the promotion of the benefit of those inhabitants who are or who may be transgender or unsure about their gender identity (hereinafter called “the beneficiaries”) in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (hereinafter described as "the area of benefit") without distinction of age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnic identity, political or religious opinion, by associating the statutory authorities, medical and health practitioners and authorites, community and voluntary organisations and the inhabitants in a common effort to promote social inclusion and diversity with the object of improving the conditions of life for the beneficiaries and in particular: (a) to promote the preservation and protection of physical, emotional mental health and to relieve the mental and emotional distress of persons who are transgender or those who are in doubt about their gender identity and their families by the provision of information, mentoring, support, help, information and advice; (b) to encourage persons who are transgender or who are in doubt about their gender identity and their families to provide mutual support and encouragement to each other with the aim of improving the conditions of life for the beneficiaries in the area of benefit; (c) to promote equality and diversity and eliminate transgender/ transphobia based discrimination by the advancement of public education in relation to gender dysphoria and gender identity issues; (d) to promote social inclusion for the public benefit by working with transgender individuals or those who are in doubt about their gender identity who are socially excluded or at risk of becoming socially excluded on the grounds of their gender or gender identity, in order to relieve the needs of those people and assist them to integrate into society; (e) to advance education among public bodies and statutory agencies who work with transgender people or those who are in doubt about their gender identity by providing support, advice, training, research and information and assisting in the promulgation and implementation of effective policies and good practice concerning transgender policy, employment, the provision of goods and services and initiatives affecting the beneficiaries; (f) to advance any other exclusively charitable purpose as the Board of Trustees, may from time to time, decide in accordance with the law of charity. For the purposes of this article ‘socially excluded’ means people who are excluded from society, or parts of society, as a result of one or more of the following factors: gender, gender dysphoria, gender-reassignment or gender identity.

Governing document

Constitution

Other name

FOCUS: THE IDENTITY TRUST

List of regions

  • In Ireland
  • In Northern Ireland
  • In The Uk
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