What is the WCSA Gender Expression Fund?
The WCSA Gender Expression Fund is a fund of £750, part of the WCSA annual budget, dedicated to reimburse students who purchase items to make them more comfortable with their gender presentation, including but not limited to binders, packers, concealing underwear, wigs, and breast forms.
How does the fund work? How can I apply?
If you would like to access the fund, you need to contact the WCSA LGBTQ+ Officer, who will reimburse students from this fund with a recommended maximum of £50 per student per term. The WCSA LGBTQ+ Officer will treat the details of your demand in the strictest confidence. After buying the desired items, the student can send the receipts to the WCSA LGBTQ+ Officer, who will send anonymised versions of these receipts to the WCSA Junior Treasurer. The Junior Treasurer will reimburse the LGBTQ+ Officer, who will in turn reimburse the student. If you are uncomfortable contacting the LGBTQ+ Officer for any reason, and only in that case, you can contact the WCSA Welfare Officer with a request for reimbursement from the Gender Expression Fund.
All the money not used in the year will be saved for the following year and topped up to a maximum of £750 annually.
This fund intends to benefit transgender and gender non-conforming students who would otherwise be financially excluded from purchasing these items despite wishing to do so.
WCSA LGBTQ+ Officer:
Creation of the WCSA Gender Expression Fund
The WCSA Gender Expression Fund was initially created to celebrate Trans Visibility Day on 31st March 2021. It is one of the initiatives of the WCSA Welfare Team with the agreement of Wolfson College, to make Wolfson a more inclusive and diverse place, in this case by institutionally supporting trans and gender non-conforming students, as well as anybody who might find this fund useful.
The creation of the Gender Expression Fund is inspired by the creation of similar funds across colleges at the University of Cambridge and is a testimony of the collaboration between LGBTQ+ Officers across the student community. The explanations in this website are indeed inspired by those of the Union of Clare Students.
Wolfson College and particularly the WCSA Committee are always happy to hear suggestions on how to make things better. Feel free to reach out to the WCSA LGBTQ+ Officer or to any other member of the WCSA Committee if you have any suggestion, thought or complaint.
Image description: Progress Flag.