Nearly 90 people who attended a celebration dinner in Lincoln heard how counsellors have been working with more than 580 people over the past year – including nearly 200 children.
And diners at the Naomi Watkins Counselling Hub CIC’s (NWCH) 2 nd Birthday Dinner at The Double Tree Hotel, were held rapt as the Hub’s Chief Executive Naomi Watkins and fellow co-founder Alex Parkin shared how staff have been transforming young lives blighted by sexual abuse, rape, family break-up and loss.
Naomi, whose Community Interest Company also helps adults, couples and families, – also told of how funding for special programmes specifically designed to help young people, is coming to an end. Diners had the chance to help the Hub to turn more young lives around by supporting a huge raffle.
Impressed guests, who heard about success stories, including a first-hand account from a man brought back from the brink of suicide, generously supported the raffle and raised £1,321 for NWCH’s continuing work.
“We have a high rate of people ending their lives by suicide in Lincolnshire and some of them are young people,” said Naomi.
“We had over 266 referrals in our first year and 585 in our second year, giving us a total of 851 clients. Last year we also received £75,000 in funding – including £40,000 from The Key Fund, £25,000 from The Bromhead Medical Charity and £10,000 from The National Lottery.
“Nearly 200 children were referred to us and nearly 400 adults in the last year, with issues ranging from grief and loss, family dynamics, sexual abuse, low self-esteem, anger, self-harm and suicidal thoughts.
“We are running two schemes dedicated to our work with Young People. The Acorn Project which supports those aged 4 to 18-years-old is funded by The Bromhead Medical Trust. The Snowdrop Project, for those aged 4 to 25-years-old is funded by the National Lottery. Both allow funded counselling for Lincolnshire child victims of sexual abuse and rape.
“While we have received an extension to our existing £25,000 grant from The Bromhead Medical Trust and £10,000 from the National Lottery, both projects are full – and we have waiting lists. There is a huge need for our service and we need help to keep them funded, so I want to thank everyone who has supported our fundraising so generously tonight.”
On the theme of suicide prevention, Naomi is thrilled to have recently been awarded a prestigious Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship and she will be travelling to Australia and New Zealand the end of this month to research this area of the Hub’s work.
Last year NWCH hosted its ManChat Conference at The Showroom in Lincoln, which was attended by more than 100 people with top-flight speakers. This year, the CIC, will be returning to The Showroom for another conference – themed around Suicide Prevention and will be help on World Suicide Prevention Day on the 10 th September 2019.
National Citizen Service participants from Lincoln College, who have been working on a project for NWCH – where they have been researching what students’ and members of the public’s experience of mental health issues are – were also applauded at the Birthday Dinner and presented with medals and certificates.
This year has seen the Counselling Hub expand and create three more private rooms, giving it a total of nine counselling spaces. It has also taken on 10 new members of staff – now its 27-strong team includes 19 counsellors and two much-loved therapy dogs.
The CIC, which also offers training for aspiring counsellors, receives its client referrals from charity organisations, schools, mental health services, GPs, social services, drug and alcohol services, the Probation Service and many other medical professionals.
The Hubs Directors (L-R), Charlie Blackwell (BDM), Nadine Daubney, Naomi Watkins (Co-Founder & CEO), Ben Wright, Miles Scudamore and Alex Parkin (Co-Founder).
View all the pictures here
RECENT POSTS
I don’t think I could recommend NWCH enough! My counsellor is great, I feel understood and hopeful and never judged. Thank you!
Young person Accessing NWCH Counselling Service
My son is opening up to Wayne about all aspects of losing his Dad - happy memories and the painful truth that he won’t be coming back. Wayne has taught him to acknowledge the pain but also remember the many happy times. The counselling he has had with Wayne has been invaluable.
Mum of her young son Accessing NWCH Counselling Service
Coming in for couples counselling, we were both nervous about how the session would work having not done anything like this before.
He listened to each of us and made it feel very light-hearted and easy. We were able to share our feelings and thoughts and Ian gently guided us to explain our views to help us see each other’s views and gave us things to think about for next week.
Couple Accessing NWCH Counselling Service
Personally, I was a very sceptical individual and initially attended as a good Will gesture to my family who had encouraged me to do so……. that being said I found myself to be able to talk to (let’s be honest, a stranger) about my life and its difficulties in an open and comfortable fashion……. don’t get me wrong I’m no soft touch! But I found it genuinely comforting to be able to do so! …. it makes me ask and look for answers from myself ….. rather than someone with a title telling me what’s wrong……,
Adult Accessing NWCH Counselling Service
The match of counsellor has meant my husband looks forward to his sessions & already is feeling happier & we as a family are seeing a difference. It is detail like this that makes asking for help via the NW Counselling Hub stand out – plus the reassurance all counsellors are qualified.
We cannot recommend the NW Counselling Hub enough and thank them for all they are doing for our family.
Adult Accessing NWCH Counselling Service
“We want to support our team when ‘life happens’. We asked NWCH to be our ‘go to’ support service for counselling and emotional support to help members of our team, if they need it, get them through some difficult personal issues such as bereavement and anxiety. The team at the hub are incredibly supportive and have provided a lifeline to our team”
Lincoln Employer referring employees to NWCH Counselling Service.
“NWCH have been providing counselling services to our employees for a few years now and I can honestly say that they have made a significant difference to many of their lives.
We are a company that believes in investing in our staff, and it is great to see when that investment is so profound and has such a positive impact, especially when it comes to people’s wellbeing.
Thank you NWCH, for enabling us to offer our teams such fantastic support and help to feel better when they face challenging times.”
HR Manager at Micronclean Ltd
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