About Us
Established in the 1980s as a local community health project, and as a charity in 1995, today Waterloo Community Counselling (WCC) is well placed to deliver life-changing counselling and mental health support to individuals across London. Last year we provided over 6500 hours of high quality, individual counselling to 594 people.
We are one of only a handful of counselling services offering long-term talking therapy at reduced fees. We reach adults from diverse backgrounds who have experienced loss, trauma and abuse, and are struggling with anxiety, depression and other difficulties.
Our unique Multilingual Counselling Service provides free mother-tongue counselling to migrants, refugees and asylum seekers who have survived exile, torture, human trafficking and modern slavery in over 23 different languages.
Our Vision
Our vision is for life-changing talking therapy for all. We want London to be a city where emotional distress and psychological suffering aren’t ignored; where every individual can access high-quality talking therapy equitably, when they need it, experiencing real relief and support.
Our Mission
Our mission is to deliver life-changing counselling and mental health support for Londoners that is affordable and accessible, ensuring that emotional distress and psychological suffering are not ignored. We are dedicated to providing high-quality counselling, psychotherapy and support to adults from all walks of life. We believe that everyone who could benefit from counselling should have access to it when they need it, experiencing real relief and support.
Our Values
Compassion
We bring empathy and understanding to our work with clients from all backgrounds
Respect
We foster a positive and empowering culture across WCC, treating people with respect and understanding
Diversity
We pride ourselves on recruiting counsellors who are representative of the diversity of the population
Inclusion
We strive to be wide reaching and welcoming, tailoring our services to individual differences and removing the barriers and stigma that prevent people from accessing psychotherapy, counselling, and statutory mental health services
Community
We work in partnership with local and city-wide organisations to reach disadvantaged and marginalised groups that wouldn’t normally be able to access the therapeutic services we provide and maintain a network of services to further support our service users
Quality
We deliver safe, clinically-effective therapeutic services with a good client experience
Download our Impact Report 2025–26: Transforming lives through counselling
To get a comprehensive overview of our achievements and the positive changes we’ve made in the community, we invite you to download a copy of our detailed Impact Statement. This document provides in-depth information on our programs, successes, and future goals.
Download Our 2025-2026 Strategic Goals
We are excited to share our 2025-2026 strategic goals, a summary of our plans dedicated to enhancing mental health services and support.
Support Life-Changing Counselling Today
Your donation helps us provide accessible and affordable counselling to individuals from diverse backgrounds dealing with issues like loss, trauma, abuse, anxiety, and depression. Join us in making a difference today.
Meet The WCC Team
Miriam
CEO
Rotimi
Clinical Services Manager
Marisa
Operations Manager
Margaret
Assistant Clinical Services Manager
Sue
Finance Manager
Eric
Service Coordinator (Multilingual Service)
Matthew
Service Coordinator (Low Cost Service)
Lucian
Community Partnerships & Fundraising Manager
Photo credit: Kal Naeem
Board of Trustees
Hazel Flynn
Chair of Trustees
Hazel has worked for over 25 years across a range of sectors and in many senior leadership roles. Hazel spent many years leading and managing Local Authority and Housing Association social housing, reaching senior management level, until a career change saw her move into the charity sector to specialise in mental health services, working for Mind as a national tender and bidding manager and a large learning disability charity, before retiring in 2020. This varied career has given Hazel a rich skills base that includes research and evaluation, financial modelling and management, tender, bid management and income generation, performance improvement and risk management. Hazel has a deep understanding and knowledge of governance, Board and Trustee management and regulatory requirements and compliance. Hazel is determined to use these skills to support people that face life and mental health challenges and joined WCC as a trustee early in 2021.
Lynne Brown
Trustee
Lynne has been an associate lecturer at Goldsmiths for more than 9 years on the MA Counselling course and, more recently, the BA Therapeutic Cultures. She is now the course convener and a personal tutor on the MA, and additionally runs the ‘Introduction to Counselling’ vocational course for the college. Her additional work as a Practice Counsellor in the NHS and in private practice also leaves her particularly well placed to offer information about developments in those fields and the current job market.
John Davis
Trustee
John spent most of his working life in education after completing a BA in Modern Languages, teaching German & French. He finished his career as Assistant Principal of a Sixth Form College. He had been responsible for student welfare & safeguarding for many years and in the years before he left the college John decided to retrain as a psychotherapist, completing an MA at Roehampton University. Part of his training was at Waterloo Community Counselling and he has remained there in various guises ever since. He now works as a psychotherapist in private practice with a particular interest in LGBT+ issues and working with adolescents. The values and services provided by WCC fit in very closely with his own values and when the chance came up to work as a trustee, John was keen to apply so he could further support the work of the organisation.
Tarrance Ryder-Downes
Trustee
Tarrance Ryder-Downes joined as a Trustee in Winter 2022. Tarrance has extensive people and culture leadership experience across the not-for-profit sector, most recently for Norwood, a charity that supports and empowers neurodiverse children, their families and people with neurodevelopmental disabilities to live their best lives. Prior to that, an international development and higher education charity, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, and Thames Reach, and organisation supporting people who face or are experiencing homelessness . Tarrance is passionate about people centred organisations and making a difference for people, societies and communities. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Steve Rattray
Trustee
Steve decided to change the focus of his working life shortly after the millennium due to his fading sight and he began to provide counselling within an NHS palliative care service. His practice has evolved to include providing clinical supervision in a diversity of settings and be part of a number of different BACP committees with a focus on both ethics and EDI. Away from his clinical practice, he has been part of a range of charities and support organizations focused on the rehabilitation and empowerment of people with disabilities as a means of creating independence in their lives.
Laura Phillips
Trustee
Laura is an accredited BACP Person-centred therapist working with adults in private practice and at Imperial College. She runs domestic abuse awareness workshops for therapists and she is currently training to be a supervisor. Laura has worked in a variety of settings including domestic violence charities and low-cost community counselling services. Laura is also a qualified Probation Officer.
Taiwo Soretire
Trustee
Taiwo is a qualified Chartered Accountant (UK & Nigeria) with over 18 years of experience spanning corporate finance, financial reporting, budgeting, tax and treasury, risk and compliance, and process optimisation across diverse sectors. He has held senior leadership roles, including Chief Financial Officer and Head of Finance, within marine logistics, healthcare, and consulting organisations in Nigeria. His early career was shaped by experience in the diplomatic and multicultural environment of the South African Embassy, as well as roles in audit and the public sector. Alongside his industry career, he is a sustainability and corporate governance researcher and a lecturer specialising in accounting and finance. He also brings extensive experience working with charities/NGOs and donor-funded programmes, including Global Fund–supported projects to fight malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis in Nigeria, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation–funded health system strengthening projects in Nigeria, and a USAID sub-grant supporting health system strengthening efforts in Liberia. As a trustee, Taiwo brings a strong focus on financial governance, accountability, transparency, and compliance, aligning financial strategy with organisational purpose and long-term sustainability to deliver impact and long-term value creation.