NEWS: Oakleaf Counselling Bursary Appeal

Oakleaf Counselling Bursary Appeal– Please help us to support some of our most vulnerable clients

At Oakleaf we offer counselling services, to help clients manage their mental ill-health and cope with difficult life events.

We ask clients who are unemployed to contribute what they can afford, with a suggested minimum of £5/session. Although still heavily subsidised by Oakleaf, this helps cover some overhead costs, ensuring that our counselling programme is sustainable. However, for some, the £5 fee is unaffordable.

Our Counselling Bursary is for clients in vulnerable circumstances, ensuring that everyone who needs it can access counselling. We aim to raise funding for 50 clients to attend 12 sessions, as we typically have a large influx of new counsellees during autumn and winter months.  Our target is raising £3,000.

A donation of any size helps- £5 will fund one session, £30 will fund six and £60 will fund 12 sessions. Those clients least able to contribute are often the most vulnerable, isolated and in highest need of counselling support.

“The Covid-19 lockdown has taken a toll on my family and I. To be able to express my feelings in counselling was so freeing. Alex and Oakleaf have been an anchor, always there whether face to face, on the phone or zoom. This service is so important as without the counselling through Oakleaf I would never have coped.” – Jan, current Oakleaf client

Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on mental health. Since the start of the pandemic we have doubled our counselling capacity to 22 counsellors, striving to meet unprecedented need (we currently have more than 50 clients waiting for counselling). Between April 2020 and March 2021 we delivered 1,263 counselling sessions, over 400 more than the previous 12 months. These have been offered either via video, phone or in-person (with glass screens to ensure social distancing). Moving forwards, we know the pandemic will result in even greater numbers of Surrey residents needing our experienced mental health support and we are determined to ensure they receive it. It is our supporters who enable Oakleaf to do this.

To find out more about our BACP*-accredited counselling service, click here.

*BACP stands for the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy

If you would like to donate to the appeal, please click here.