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Status
Received: 32 days late
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Income
£129.9K
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Spending
£166.3K
Public benefits
The public benefit flowing from these purposes are that Northwest Counselling Limited works to advance the health and save lives of referred clients by; increasing their coping skills, helping them to understand their condition, helping them to more effectively manage themselves and deal with anxieties, stresses, anger and loss. This ultimately
can result in a positive life-change for beneficiaries by reducing levels of potential self-harm, stress and anxiety and also has a positive impact on the clients’ families, friends and work colleagues. The re-integration of clients back into a healthier family life, work environment and/or community engagement, is an outcome every counsellor within Northwest Counselling Limited strives to assist each of their clients achieve. Beneficiaries include all those needing one form or other of mental health support who are referred for counselling, as well as immediate others who also benefit as a result of the clients’ managing their mental health conditions more effectively. The organisation delivers more than 2,100 counselling hours annually - 1,000 hours for adults and over 1,100 hours for children. 49% of adult referrals are from clients making direct contact after recommendation from family, friends or health professionals and 41% originate from GP practices. Other sources of referral for all clients (both adult and children) include referrals from nineteen schools within the North West area and from the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Benefits are measured through feedback from clients and examination of the formal assessment and measurement process. The organisation employs the CORE (Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation) formal assessment or clinical audit tool in the counselling process. This is a co-ordinated quality evaluation, audit and outcome benchmarking system. In 2014 the organisation participated in an external and independent pilot project conducted by Queens University, Belfast (QUB), which examined the effectiveness of measuring client outcomes using the CORE process. The result of all CORE assessments for Northwest Counselling Limited showed significant and positive improvements in the mental well-being of clients from pre to post-test junctures. This was acknowledged by the QUB project lead. Local GP’s have also confirmed that the majority of patients who have been counselled through our organisation have experienced reduced medication including a total withdrawal from some prescription drugs and also evidenced a reduction in consultations between the patients and GP’s. The purposes do not give any direct rise to harm for the client. There is however, the unintended risk of wasting people’s time if counselling does not appear to benefit them. The organisation relies on the skill of the counsellor, monitoring by counsellor’s supervisor and the aforementioned CORE assessment process to identify potential cases that might fall into this category. Experience to date and assessment of outcomes show that the propensity factor for this risk is very low. A private benefit at times may be received by two directors of Northwest Counselling Limited. This happens only because these directors are highly qualified and trained counsellors/coaches and arises only when specialist counselling services are required to assist the organisation fulfil its contractual duties. The benefit therefore only occurs when the directors deliver services to clients as part of the organisation’s counselling team. A private benefit to directors may also arise from Northwest Counselling Limited’s programmes of training in planning and budgeting, governance and goal setting. This training results in directors acquiring increased skills and experience which are transferrable to other settings. These benefits are incidental and necessary to ensure the public benefit is provided to the organisation’s
... [more] [less]What your organisation does
Northwest Counselling Limited, which was formed in 2005, provides counselling services to a range of people from all walks of life and all age groups throughout the North West. Some of these people are often the most difficult to reach, with some having been excluded through a variety of reasons beyond their control. Counsellors specialise in
treating many issues presented by clients, including: depression, anxiety problems (including trauma and fear related symptoms), relationship and family issues, major life changes, separation, loss and bereavement, addiction, domestic violence and abuse, stress, anger, and people with a propensity towards self-harm and suicide. It also delivers specific behavioural change programmes for young offenders, with referrals made from the Police Service of NI. The services delivered are talking therapies, where the goal is to provide effective outreach that can help to stimulate self-referrals and encourage other agencies to refer their clients for counselling to help them deal with particular situations and achieve positive change in their lives. This helps them to acquire higher levels of coping skills and ultimately improve their mental health. There are clear benefits for the client’s immediate family and in certain cases the broader community as well. Trained counsellors listen to clients and help them find answers to their problems, without making any judgement whatsoever. The counselling services are usually delivered on a one-to-one basis with the client, but in some cases counselling will be delivered in groups or in couples, such as family or relationship counselling. The organisation, which is a not-for-profit company delivers its services from two locations in the North West, The Vale Centre in Greysteel and St Columb’s Court in the city centre of Derry/Londonderry. It has an on-going professional development strategy, with regular training programmes delivered in order to enhance counsellor’s skills.
... [more] [less]The charity’s classifications
- The advancement of health or the saving of lives
- The advancement of citizenship or community development
- The relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage
Who the charity helps
- Addictions (drug/solvent/alcohol abuse)
- Children (5-13 year olds)
- Ex-offenders and prisoners
- Men
- Mental health
- Parents
- Victim support
- Women
- Youth (14-25 year olds)
How the charity works
- Counselling/support
- Medical/health/sickness
- Volunteer development
