Sandhurst Counselling Service

There's always things happening at Sandhurst Counselling Service

The following press release was issued 18th March 2025:

Press Release

Sandhurst Counselling Service to close
at time of greatest national need

• Sandhurst Counselling Service will stop counselling at end July as a result of Bracknell Forest Council stopping core funding after twenty years
• Voluntary Sector should be a key player in addressing the national mental health crisis which is driving the need to cut the costs of benefits

For the past 35 years Sandhurst Counselling Service has offered support to the community of Bracknell Forest and surrounding area, and for over 20 years the charity has been supported by grants from Bracknell Forest Council amounting to about 40% of the annual running costs.

BFC has informed the charity that due to pressures on their own finances that all funding for SCS will cease effective 30^th March 2025. The Trustees of SCS have carefully evaluated all options for continuing and concluded that the charity must stop all counselling by 31^st July.

Ahead of today’s announcements of reforms to the benefits system, Institute for Fiscal Studies² noted: “More than half of the rise in 16- to 64-year-olds claiming disability benefits since the pandemic is due to more claims relating to mental health or behavioural conditions. 1.3 million people claim disability benefits primarily for mental health or behavioural conditions – 44% of all claimants. A recent DWP survey suggests 86% of incapacity and disability benefit claimants report having a mental health condition (even if it is not their primary condition).”

“It is immensely frustrating to have to stop our services at this time” added Dave Percival. “The demand for services like ours has been rising inexorably for some years, and this was accelerated by the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. Through out the life of this service we have always operated to the highest standards required by BACP and UKCP. The NHS has both a limited capacity and a limited offer – nearly 50% of our clients come to us from health sources (GP etc) – the value of what we do is recognised at grass-roots level.”

The need to expand mental health recovery service provision to meet existing and future demand in our area is clearly stated in Bracknell Forest Council’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2022-2026³.  We have worked closely with BFC to meet this objective for the past five years.

In announcing cessation of counselling by 31^st July Dave Percival, Chair of SCS Trustees noted:“This run-down period allows us to act responsibly and with due care for our clients and our practitioners. We are immensely proud of all that the charity done for over 35 years to support those who, for whatever reason, have needed to rebuild their mental health. It is humbling when our clients tell us “'Counselling helped with my perspective on life. I now feel more confident in my ability to manage my life going forward.' Another simply said “Counselling helped me get my life back on track. Every person we have helped also then impacts their family, friends, and colleagues.”

We are very grateful to St Michaels church, Sandhurst, who founded the charity and who have provided the premises from which we operate, and to Bracknell Forest Council who have supported us with core funding for the past 20 years enabling the charity to grow through the pandemic to meet the current demand.

A recent Kings Fund Report⁴ states: “Despite progress in providing more mental health services in the community, there is still a sizeable gap between the number of people with mental health conditions and the number of people the NHS can treat. For example, the 2023–24 ambition for 1.9 million people in England to access talking therapy services equated to only around one-quarter of people with a diagnosed need.”

National figures show that for every £1 spent on mental health services the community benefits by £40.  The costs of this decision will be felt for many years to come. The government has set its number one priority as driving economic growth. Getting those who cannot work due to their mental health challenges on a road to recovery should be a national priority, and the voluntary sector needs investment and support to be a part of the solution.

“Sandhurst Counselling Service should be part of the solution, instead of being cast aside through the failure of our public finances. There is still time if there is the political will”, said Dave Percival.

---- ENDS ----

Notes

1. Sandhurst Counselling Service is Registered Charity No 1143572. For Press Enquiries please contact the Chair of Trustees, Dave Percival, 07802 660524, dave.percival@btinternet.com
2. The IFS Report “The role of changing health in rising health-related benefit claims” can be found at https://ifs.org.uk/publications/role-changing-health-rising-health-related-benefit-claims
3. The BFC Health and Wellbeing strategy 2022-2026 can be found at https://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2022-06/bracknell-forest-health-and-wellbeing-strategy-2022-to-2026_0.pdf  - see page 34 in particular.
4. The full report “Improving access to out-of-hospital care” by Kings Fund (https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/briefings/improving-access-to-out-of-hospital-care)

This week grants, like London busses, have come along in three's (or even fours!) - so it with grateful thanks that we acknowledge:

• Berkshire Community Foundation for £5000 towards our core running costs;
• The Unite Union Branch that represents Aircraft Engineers in the London area who have contributed £640 with more to follow;
• Berkshire Masonic Charity have awarded us £1,500 to cover the cost of this year’s training courses
• and Sandhurst Town Council who have made a grant of £300.

All are hugely welcome and help us continue to deliver a record level of support sessions free of charge to the community of Sandhurst and environs.

We are once again grateful to the Berkshire Community Foundation for their continuing support. In particular we are most grateful for their grants of £3,000 to cover our client assessment costs for the period from March to December 2022, and £500 to help cover greatly increased heating costs from November 2022 to April 2023. These respectively help us match client need with counsellor availability in a timely and efficient manner, and defray greatly increased heating costs through this winter.

Secondly thanks to the Engelfield Charitable Trust for a grant of £500 to cover the costs of introducing a payment card process to boost donations from clients and other donors, supplementing or replacing reducing cash donations.

We are so grateful to all trusts and other organisations and supporters that are committed to keeping this vital service running.

The challenges for mental health of the pandemic are only going to grow, so it's really great that two funders are stepping up to the plate to help us continue to deliver our support and help.

Firstly we are so grateful to Berkshire Community Fund for their ongoing support and a contribution of £5000 to help underpin our finances for the year and to ensure we can continue to offer support to our clients whatever their financial services.
Secondly we are delighted to welcome the Albert Hunt Trust who have generously offered us £2000 towards the costs of continuing the service and in particular underwriting the supervision of our practitioners - work that is vital to ensuring the very highest professional services are maintained.

We are so grateful to all the trust and organisations that are committed to keeping this vital service running.

Two pieces of great news to start the year on the funding front.

First of all we are hugely grateful to have received a cheque for £1,000 from the Berkshire Masonic Charity - this will go towards recruiting further new counsellors to meet the growing demand, and to other Covid 19 related costs.

Secondly we were pleased to be advised this week that we are once again one of the selected charities to which St Michael's church generously give 10% of its annual donated income. This together with the support they offer with the premises at the Pastoral Centre in Lower Church road are vital to the ongoing work of the Counselling Service. From the time the Service started in the early nineties, effectively as a child of the Church, then becoming an independent charity in 2011, to the present day, St Michael's support has been essential for our survival and our growth.

Thank you!

You can help support Sandhurst Counselling Service by shopping at the Co-op!

We have been selected by the Coop as one of their nominated charity partners for the next year. All you have to do is to register us as your charity choice, which you can do by applying on-line at Co-op/Membership or by downloading their App. Providing you live within about 15 miles of St Michael's Pastoral Centre you can select Sandhurst Counselling Service as your local nominated charity. We are seeking funding for workshops and training courses for our counsellors as detailed on this link: https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/46246 After your registration, and until the end of next October, from whichever store in the country you buy Co-op branded products and services, both you and the charity will benefit as detailed on the Co-op website

Mental Health through the pandemic is becoming a major concern. We are grateful therefore to all the organisations who have come forward to support our continuing work. They include:

• The National Lottery Coronavirus Community Support Fund

• Edward Gostling Foundation

The additional funding enables us to continue to offer our online counselling and remote assessments so that we can continue to serve the local community.

Our team has been brilliantly committed and creative throughout the crisis, overcoming many hurdles, and ensuring we continue to serve as many clients as possible by remote means at this time.

But like many charities our fundraising activities and opportunities have been severely impacted through the current crisis, and our costs for each session delivered have inevitably gone up. So we are incredibly grateful to the various organisations which have stepped in, and contributed to different aspects of our funding:

• Bracknell Forest Borough Council - grant and emergency funding
• Sandhurst Town council - grant
• Legal and General - grant
• Sandhurst Voluntary Care  - grant
• Easthampstead Rotary Lottery  - grant
• Tesco Covid Bags of Help - emergency funding
• Berkshire Community Fund Coronavirus Fund - emergency funding
• Vodaphone - grant

Poor mental health is going to be a legacy of the crisis for many - so we salute our team, and our funders, for the massive support they offer, so that we can go on caring for those struggling with life who most need our help at this time.

SCS was delighted to participate in the BCF Showcase Event on 7th of March and to be the recipient of a grant of £17,000 to further develop and consolidate the services offered by SCS.

The funding has been made possible by funds raised through the BCF 2017 Year of Mental Health campaign.

Speaking after the award was announced Mr Peter Hulbert, a trustee of SCS, said: " Many thanks, both for this most welcome award, which will totally underpin our plans to enhance and develop SCS over the next few years, and for the excellent work that BCF does in so successfully coordinating fund raising activities in Berkshire .

Our team thoroughly enjoyed yesterday's event, notwithstanding the somewhat nerve-wracking experience of speaking against the clock, and the totally professional way in which the event was put together is testament to the hard work and expertise of you and your team."

There are lots of pictures here.