Welfare
Welfare is an extremely important aspect of the work our committee does. Dealing with personal sexuality and gender issues can be difficult, but our welfare representatives are here to help.
You can come to us for advice and support on mental or sexual health, coming out, relationships or even just for a chat. If you're not comfortable with a face-to-face conversation, you can contact us via email or through our webchat service. We're always willing to listen!
We have excellent links with other parts of the Students' Union, the University and city-wide groups, organisations and support networks. There is plenty of assistance available to LGBT+ students in Sheffield – remember, there is no shame in asking for help! Of course, all help and advice is confidential.
You can contact the welfare representatives by email at any time, or arrange to meet them in the LGBT+ Lounge. We also have a huge amount of leaflets and other literature available in the lounge as well as free condoms, lube and sexual health tests – feel free to pop in whenever the Union is open.
You can come to us for advice and support on mental or sexual health, coming out, relationships or even just for a chat. If you're not comfortable with a face-to-face conversation, you can contact us via email or through our webchat service. We're always willing to listen!
We have excellent links with other parts of the Students' Union, the University and city-wide groups, organisations and support networks. There is plenty of assistance available to LGBT+ students in Sheffield – remember, there is no shame in asking for help! Of course, all help and advice is confidential.
You can contact the welfare representatives by email at any time, or arrange to meet them in the LGBT+ Lounge. We also have a huge amount of leaflets and other literature available in the lounge as well as free condoms, lube and sexual health tests – feel free to pop in whenever the Union is open.
Our men's welfare officer is here to support and help self identifying men of minority sexual orientations / gender identities. One major aspect of men's welfare is mental health and wellbeing. There are many potential issues that come with identifying with a minority orientation and these can affect your experience at university, such as coming to terms with your own sexuality, feeling prejudiced or coming out of the closet. We are here to offer empathy, support and guidance with any problem that you may be facing. Another major issue is sexual health, you may need advice or info in a non-judgemental environment, and that is exactly what we provide.
Welfare is about keeping yourself whole and happy, mentally, emotionally, physically and academically. Sexual health for lesbian, bi+ and trans women is very important, including STI testing (good for everyone) and contraception (if appropriate). Leaflets, condoms (which can turn into helpful dental dams), lube and sexual health tests are available in the Lounge.
Trans is an umbrella term which covers anyone who feels that their gender identity does not match the gender they were assigned at birth. Whilst many trans people, and certainly the most widely shown in popular culture, will be those who transition to another binary gender (e.g. female to male, or male to female), trans also applies to those who who feel they identify with neither gender, both genders, or a non-binary gender. Our trans representative is here to help represent all trans people's viewpoints as well as to be one of first ports of call for any help you feel you may need.
Our Welfare Officers each run a weekly webchat for an hour (they post the details of this on our Facebook group). To access the webchat when they're online, click the button below.
If you can't access the webchats, other advice and support is available from charities like Samaritans and Switchboard.