Children’s counselling service gets funded
Monday August 2, 2010
A charity providing counselling services for children in Hammersmith & Fulham has been awarded a £10,000 grant by the council.
The 150-year-old organisation, Catholic Children’s Society, which provides various children’s and family services across the diocese of Westminster and throughout Hertfordshire, received the money as part of the recent third sector investment fund.
It will run therapy and counselling sessions for children aged four to 11, and their families, in Pope John, St Mary’s and Good Shepherd Roman Catholic Schools. Last year, the society helped 29 children and 21 adults in Hammersmith & Fulham through psychotherapy, play therapy and counselling sessions at the schools.
Gill Wickham, headteacher at Pope John in Commonwealth Avenue, White City, said the scheme was wonderful. She said: “Lots of the children have benefited from the scheme – they gain in confidence and learn to talk about their emotional needs. Through the therapy they understand themselves a bit better and it does help them with their learning. The Catholic Children’s Society really supports our ethos of the school which is working with the whole family.”
Chief Executive, Rosemary Keenan, said that although the organisation had requested a higher level of funding than they were eventually awarded, they were confident that the schools would be able to contribute the remaining £8,500 needed to run the service.
She said: “We provide value for money because if education is a route out of poverty then children have to be emotionally disposed to learn in the first place, otherwise education isn’t a route out of poverty. We want to ensure that children’s longer term wellbeing is being cared for. So now we need to see how much the schools can contribute and are working with them to find the shortfall.”
She added that Pope John would provide the rest of the funding needed for the project at the school, which has been running there for the last five years.
Therapist Rebecca Woodhams said: “I’ll have meetings with the school’s special needs coordinator to talk through which children would benefit from play therapy, and the school refers children to us. I have seen about four or five children this year, but I can see up to five children in one day. Sometimes they don’t need direct work, just need a few sessions or I might see them regularly over the whole school year – it completely depends.
“When children come into the room, it’s set up like a mini-nursery with toys, art equipment, books, classroom work, a sand pit and water tray. Sometimes the children will play on their own or they’ll include me, and then it might turn into role play and you get to pick up on recurring themes or phrases that might emerge from that. It’s not just working with the children though, we bring in the parents to review and talk about the work we’re doing.”
“You do see results – they might not have been achieving as well as they could in class but through the therapy, they are better able to join in or listen, so their behaviour does change.”
Councillor Helen Binmore, cabinet member for chidren’s services, said: “The Catholic Children’s Society does some incredible work with some of the most vulnerable youngsters in the borough. Looking after our children’s mental health is vital and the service allows them to open up, express themselves, and talk through sensitive issues that are affecting them at an early age. We are glad we can help fund the scheme and hope that it will continue to go from strength to strength.”
