To The Friends of the Kernos Centre
Dear Friends
Thank You. With your support we have now been open for two years and, as you will see, have been growing and going from strength to strength.
In the first 18 months we had 98 referrals, but since 1.1.2005 we have already received 40 referrals enabling us to help with a wide range of emotional and psychological problems. These include depression, anxiety, trauma, sexual abuse, domestic abuse, eating disorders, anger, bereavement, stress, relationships, and work related issues. Our counsellors receive clients via self-referrals, from G.P’s and caring agencies, such as Social Services, Mental health Agencies, C.A.B. Quaker Housing Association, and the West Suffolk Drug Advisory Service.
In March we were successful in obtaining a grant from The Local Network Fund (LNF). LNF funding has allowed us to open up our service by starting an Adolescent Project giving counselling sessions to young people in our area free of charge and without having to put them on a long waiting list. This is very important for young people as it takes courage to seek help and present themselves for counselling. Having a service which focuses on young people enables them to get the support as and when they need it. It enables us to meet this need and give early interventions when young people are in an emotional crisis. A report published last year by the Social Exclusion Unit found that every year some 20,000 children in Britain run away from home before the age of 16. When those who were interviewed spoke about what led them to leave, a significant factor that emerged was not having someone to talk to about a problem that they could trust and felt treated them with respect. Locally we have Connexions, Community Education, School Teachers and G.P.’s. Who have willingly given support to our project.
We now have five counsellors in the clinical team and have been successful in recruiting another two valuable volunteers helping with funding bids, promotion, press releases, general office duties and the maintenance of the centre. We are grateful to our team of volunteers and welcome anyone who feels that they can contribute to the smooth running of Kernos.
As you are aware we receive no statutory funding and rely on donations, grants and fund-raising, which brings me to our quiz. Our cryptic quiz has now become an annual event and with the help of Delta Print in Sudbury who generously donated the printing of the quiz sheets as their contribution to our charity we raised £398 for our funds. Thank you to all who bought/sold tickets on our behalf. If you have any other ideas on fund-raising, please contact the Office Administrator.
Thank you for your interest and I hope that we can rely on your support in the future.
Yours sincerely,
Christine Boatwright,
Director of Counselling April 2005