Counselling in the Community awarded charity status after five years of hard work

A Blackpool community group which for five years has offered free counselling to depressed and mentally ill people has been awarded charity status at long last.
Stuart Hutton-Brown from Counselling in the Community. He is pictured with volunteers Cassie Simmonds, Carly Ryan and Millie Philpot.Stuart Hutton-Brown from Counselling in the Community. He is pictured with volunteers Cassie Simmonds, Carly Ryan and Millie Philpot.
Stuart Hutton-Brown from Counselling in the Community. He is pictured with volunteers Cassie Simmonds, Carly Ryan and Millie Philpot.

Counselling in the Community, which provides services to adults and children across the Fylde coast away from long NHS waiting lists and costly private care, became a registered charity last week.

Founder Stewart Brown said: "It's like a validation of the job we do to the best of our abilities. The recognition that comes with being a registered charity will help us with fund-raising, which will help us with sustainability, growth and expansion.

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"We're ecstatic, really. A lot of work has gone into become a charity - it's been five years in the making. We couldn't have done it without the fifty-plus volunteers that we have.

"When I started CIC, my vicion at the time was just to stay open. It has been really tough, We have been close to closing on numerous occassions, there has not been the money to pay the rent or the bills, but I'm a firm believer that there's always a way.

"We had the dream of making counselling accessible to all, and we'll continue to do that."

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CIC, which is based on Derby Road, recently expanded to another building on Waterloo Road, which is still in the process of being refurbished and will be fully operational soon.

Charity trustee Chris Webb said: "Counselling in the Community has been going for a number of years and as a community-inspired company we have been expanding the services we provide. We are counselling over 100 people a week, and we have closed to 90 people on our waiting list as well.

"We felt the organisation was growing and the next step was to gain charity status.

"We have been in contact with the charity commission for the past four months, so we're really excited now about the future and what we will do for the town.

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"Charity status will help with fundraising. We rely heavily on fund-raising, because we are a donation-based service. People who come to us can't afford to pay for private counselling services. There are long waiting lists for counselling services in the NHS, so they come to us, and we have to fund that.

"By becoming a registered charity it does open doors to us through gift aid and grants that are available to us. A lot of organisations, although they are very sympathetic, have rules that say you must be a registered charity before they will agree to help. So we sat down and put a plan in place to achieve that status.

"For CIC, the next step is hopefully to expand the services we have to Fleetwood, possibly to Morecambe and also to St Annes and Lytham to support those with mental health problems there."