The Welsh Gender service has decided to no longer fund Umbrella Cymru (or any other organisation) to deliver support to patients.
This means there has been an impact on our wait times for support as our resources have reduced and demand has increased.
Umbrella Cymru had provided support alongside the Welsh Gender Service since they opened their doors in 2019. Initially we were contracted to support any patient who was on the waiting list, had been seen, or indeed would soon be referred to the service.
In 2024, the contract was recommissioned when we were funded to support only those who had been seen and referred to us by WGS clinicians. This affected our wait times for anyone waiting to be seen by the WGS, or indeed for those who were experiencing difficulties being referred to the WGS.
Since 01 July 2026, the WGS no longer funds any external support service for patients to access dedicated support.
Umbrella Cymru has continued to provide support to trans an non-binary people whether they are, were, would be (or indeed wouldn’t be) a WGS patient, but we might have taken longer than we would like to contact and support everyone.
We apologise for any delays experienced as a result of our diminished capacity. As a small team, we try our best to contact everyone as quickly as we can but recognise that this is not always as quick as everyone would want (including us). We ask you to be patient with us while we contact everyone waiting for our support.
Please remember we are not a crisis service and would therefore urge anyone in crisis to contact other 24/7 services / emergency services if needed. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, always call 999.
As always, we will continue to do the best we can to support as many people across Wales as we can with very little resource.