The Monday Meetups group visited the Imperial War Museum in April – read more below
Happy Spring from Waterloo Community Counselling!
Happy Easter, Ramadan Mubarak and Chag Sameach to those who recently celebrated passover. We hope you enjoyed the Bank Holiday weekend.
Welcome to our Spring newsletter which, like the season, is replete with exciting developments and new growth.
Crowdfunder Campaign 2022
A massive thank you to everyone who donated to and shared our Crowdfunding campaign which ran from 9th March – 6th April.
In a month we managed to raise an amazing £5,675. A big thank you to the National Emergencies Trust who provided match funding for the appeal, so that every donation was doubled.
This is the first time WCC has raised money through an online appeal and we were not sure what the response would be. We were overwhelmed by the generosity and support of individuals and businesses and would like to say a big thank you to Statista, RenaissanceRe and Pears Foundation for making generous philanthropic donations.
How is this money going to be spent?
The donations raised allow us to have some precious unrestricted funding which we can use as needed to meet the huge demand for our support and provide as many sessions as possible in the coming year. It will also help us offer more new projects like our MECS Monday Meet-Ups club for refugees and asylum seekers
Click here to read more information about our Crowdfunder and watch the video we put together.
Thanks to Statista’s London office for supporting the work we do at WCC. Statista is a company specialising in market and consumer data. In March 2022 Statista organised a bake sale which raised an impressive £350 which was donated to WCC’s Crowdfunding Campaign.
WCC is grateful to Statista’s support and looks forward to a continued relationship with the company who’s London office is a stones throw from the WCC premises.
We’re thrilled to announce that WCC has been awarded £423,560 by the National Lottery Community Fund’s Reaching Communities programme to spend over the next 3 years on Vital Mental Health Support for Vulnerable Londoners.
This funding will provide us with crucial stability over the next few years while we develop the Low-Cost Service, the Multi-Ethnic Counselling service and our groups to meet the changing needs of marginalised Londoners – including refugees, asylum seekers and migrant, as well as native Londoners on the lowest incomes and from diverse communities.
MECS Monday Meetups
In February WCC launched a new project which offers refugees, asylum seekers and migrants a chance to meet up and enjoy interesting and unique activities in a relaxed and fun environment. The group meets on a monthly basis and takes part in outings which include: visiting museums, galleries and local community farms and gardening projects.
The group has met three times so far: visiting the Tate Modern, Imperial War Museum and Oasis Farm Waterloo. In May we will visit Roots and Shoots, an educational and ecological community organisation.
Monday Meetups has become a highlight for the service users as well as the WCC staff and volunteers who take part. Our group size fluctuates in size but we are pleased to count 8 regular members of the group who come from 6 different countries. We are supported by a team of 5 volunteers to whom we are very grateful.
Feedback from one attendant: “Thank you very much – the meetings are very good, I enjoy meeting new people and seeing London”
We have started blog which chronicles our meetups which you can read here!
Waterloo Community Counselling currently has vacancies for volunteer and paid sessional counsellors / therapists who speak any of the following languages:
Albanian, Bengali, Dari, Italian, Kurdish, Spanish, Pashto and Urdu.
If you are interested in applying please click here for more information.
We have sadly said goodbye to a number counsellors and therapists who have ended their work or placement with WCC. Our team of counsellors and supervisors never fail to amaze us with their commitment to the organisation and the work we do at WCC, and we are so grateful for their support and hard work. It is always hard to say goodbye to treasured members of the team but we wish all those who have moved on the best of luck as they enter a new and exciting chapter of their lives!
We are also sad to be saying goodbye to Veri Seo who has been an administrative volunteer at WCC for the last 6 months. Veri is returning to the America to finish her medical degree – we wish her the best of luck!
We are grateful to Antonella and Emma – experienced counsellors in the team at WCC who are sadly leaving the organisation – who have been generous enough to share some of their experiences and perspectives of WCC – see below.
I arrived at Waterloo Community Counselling in 2014 as a trainee counsellor and psychotherapist. My first impression was of a very inclusive and supportive organisation which offered opportunities to work with very different client groups.
I initially worked in the Low-Cost Service where I had the opportunity of working with clients from the local community and with university students. In the last couple of years I have also worked with asylum seekers and Italian-speaking clients within MECS (the Multi-Ethnic Counselling Service).
I have been in the organisation for nearly eight years and have experienced different facets of it. I think the service that WCC offers is invaluable as it reaches out to so many different groups, but in order to continue to be viable it had to undergo a substantial re-structuring. Change, and the inevitable losses that occurred, were not easy to experience, especially in COVID times as it was more difficult to feel and remain connected, but the results I have experienced so far are very promising. The new internal structure, with re-defined roles and responsibilities and clearer boundaries, together with a long-term vision, will no doubt further strengthen the organisation and its solid foundations for the years to come.
I am sad to leave as WCC has given me so much professionally and on a more personal level I will miss all the supportive members of staff and colleagues, but life does move us on.
I remain very positive that WCC will continue to deliver a stellar service in the years to come and will try to support it as I can from afar.
Emma Huntsman
Leaving WCC… I have spent the last twelve years working at WCC and it’s with great sadness that I leave. People make places and the dedicated team that work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep WCC a going concern always made me feel welcome when I came in on a Thursday or phoned in with a random query.
During the first lockdown I was fortunate enough to join a small reflective practice group run by Priya. It certainly made us/me feel less isolated work-wise being able to connect with my peers via zoom. I realise how fortunate we were to be able to continue working with our clients albeit remotely during this extraordinary period. However, I think our work is made richer by being in the consulting room with our clients face to face.
I know that at times WCC has struggled to survive mostly due to lack of funding and cut-backs but fortunately it has survived, and I trust that it will continue to evolve and carry on the good work for many years to come. I firmly believe in its ethos, that low-cost affordable counselling should be available to all and not forgetting the amazing work of the multi-ethnic service that offers free counselling to refugees, migrants and asylum seekers.
It’s been a huge privilege to work at WCC and to meet such special people from all walks of life: the administrative team, the counsellors and of course the many clients I’ve seen over the years. I shall miss you all.