A CHARITY providing mental health support for young people in the city got together to celebrate how far its come.
Winchester Youth Counselling (WYC) has been providing free mental health counselling in the city for 20 years. The team marked the occasion on Friday, September 16 at the Open House Deli with around 50 current and past staff members and trustees in attendance.
The service has expanded from three or four counsellors to a growing team of 25 members of staff helping to tackle the never-ending waiting list.
Demand continues to steadily increase and with other services overwhelmed with clients, more and more young people are turning to the free charity based in the Winchester Centre.
Founder Jill Guppy initially set up WYC due to concerns that young people could only receive six sessions of counselling or couldn’t afford any at all. She said: “We knew this wasn’t adequate for the majority of young people and we wanted to have a place where they could come and access longer term support.
“The project has grown because mental health support need for young people has just shot up. And all the other services have been totally overwhelmed so I think a lot of young people have drifted our way because they’ve not got anywhere else to go.
“Lots of young people are really struggling and unfortunately contemplating suicide and self-harm so there’s a massive need in not just Winchester but across the country.
“It’s been great that the project has been able to grow and expand. One thing is beginning and another is keeping it going.
“It was very rewarding and lovely to see the counsellors, the team, the trustees, the staff, the admin everybody who has contributed as its really a community effort. I sewed the seed, but other people have helped nurture, grow, water that seed so it has grown.”
Jill continues to work as a counsellor but stepped down from overall management in 2021 when CEO Erin took over. Since then, WYC has moved into larger office spaces, appointed Chris Packham as patron and continues to hire more counsellors within the clinical team.
Erin said: “I’d say the clients are becoming more complex. The issues are becoming more serious and more complex than that would classically be seen by a counsellor, just because the statutory services wait time is so long. There’s very little out there for adolescents and young adults to be seen quickly.
“The fact we’ve got to this point, so many charities fail within a few years, it’s quite amazing that we’ve got this far. So I think we’re all quite proud to be part of it.
“It’s a kind of balancing act between doing what we can and trying not to take on too much risk. All of us have a real empathy and passion for helping young people so we do what we can but it’s really difficult times at the moment.”
The counselling service supports young people aged 11-25 with 50 minute in person sessions once a week and no pre-determined end. As well as one-to-one counselling WYC provides walks with counsellors in nature, nature therapy, relaxation technique sessions, consultancy for parents and a weekly wellbeing group.
Clinic lead, Marta Sheppard said: “The majority of our clients come from parent referral. With about 80 per cent of the people we see being under 18.”
To mark the 20th anniversary the team enjoyed a cake, party and speech from founder Jill Guppy. Marta added: “It was important to celebrate the occasion to acknowledge what charity has achieved over the year and get the team together and make them feel like they’re part of something bigger.”
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Winchester Youth Counselling currently supports around 200 clients with one-to-one counselling while the waiting list continues to expand. The charity continues to expand to meet the overwhelming demand. A youth lead has been employed this year to better engage with the community and schools outside of counselling.
The charity accepts referrals from schools, social workers, GPs, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) as well as self-referrals.
For more go to winchesteryouthcounselling.org/.
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