'The most we made in 2020 was £449 but we won't give up:' How a counsellor gave up everything for Blackpool residents

Imagine if your organisation had been on the brink of closure for almost three years, received hardly any money, and yet demand for your services was higher than ever.

How would you carry on?

For Stuart Hutton-Brown, 51, founder and manager of Counselling in the Community on Derby Road, North Shore, finding the strength to carry on has been a recurrent process since 2018.

Stuart, of Talbot Road, qualified as a counsellor in 2014, and has put his heart and soul into running the non-profit mental health organisation since 2017.

He sold his car in 2019 to raise money to keep his doors open to Blackpool residents, and fights every day to make sure he and his team of around 50 volunteers are there for them.

For a non-profit mental health service in an area as deprived as Blackpool, operating on such little money is a struggle at the best of times.

But after the coronavirus pandemic hit in March this year, the number of people seeking help for their mental health sky-rocketed.

Having closed during the first national lockdown, the team were so concerned about how the pandemic would affect the mental health of residents they set up a "listening line" to continue to provide round-the-clock counselling by phone.

Since the Derby Road building reopened, Stuart and his team welcomed over 100 people a week into a counselling room, but as a non-profit organisation there is no requirement for them to pay for therapy.

In November, the team recorded the highest amount of money they had ever received in one month - just £449.

Mr Hutton-Brown explained that despite the financial struggles the organisation faces each day, he will not give up on the people of Blackpool.

"This year has been more difficult for the people coming through our doors than anyone could have foreseen," he said.

"We have had to open seven days a week and open longer into the evenings, but we don't mind because there are so many people who need help.

"Many people simply can't afford to pay for mental health treatment, but that shouldn't stop them from being able to access it.

"The most we made in one month this year was £449, and of roughly 400 people we see monthly, 70 to 80 of them will pay us.

"Fortunately, we were helped during the first lockdown by a lovely bid writer from Manchester who heard about us, and helped us write bids for grants.

"We received around £10,000, which we mostly spent on PPE - we are still surviving on the rest."

Counselling in the Community, despite running on nearly-empty since it opened in 2017, has been a glimmer of hope in difficult times to many people across the Fylde coast.

Not only serving Blackpool, around 30 per cent of clients also travel from Wyre, and the listening line has been of service to people as far as Leeds and the Home Counties.

One volunteer commutes from Salford to support the growing number of people who need their help.

And after such a turbulent year, the team carried on providing support over Christmas, as a result of identifying the festive period as being one of the most difficult for anyone struggling with mental health issues.

A survey of more than 16,000 people during lockdown by mental health charity Mind revealed the scale of the impact of the pandemic on people with mental health problems.

In the North West, 1542 people took part in the survey, and 60 per cent of participants said their mental health had got worse since the pandemic began.

32 per cent of participants did not seek any help, because they felt their issues "were not serious enough."

Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, called on the Government to help patients and organsiations like Counselling in the Community with mental health funding.

Mr Farmer said: "The coronavirus pandemic is as much a mental health emergency as it is a physical one. The devastating loss of life, the impact of lockdown, and the inevitable recession that lies ahead will leave a deep and lasting scar on our nation’s mental health.

"Those of us who were already struggling with our mental health have fared worst, but we also know that many people who were previously well will now develop mental health problems, as a direct consequence of the pandemic.

"We have been calling on successive UK governments to put mental health at the heart of the policy and political agenda. This has never been more critical than it is now.

"As we look to the future, those in power must make the right choices to rebuild services and support, and to ensure that the society that comes after the pandemic is kinder, fairer and safer for everyone experiencing a mental health problem.

"This is can only be achieved by putting mental health at the very centre of the UK Government’s recovery plans, not only in relation to the NHS, but across all domestic departments."

With NHS mental health services also stretched, the absence of a waiting list to receive treatment encourages hundreds of people to flock to Counselling in the Community's Derby Road centre each week.

The increase in demand has pushed the centre to the brink - prompting a fundraiser to enable the team to open a second mental health hub on Waterloo Road.

The fundraiser aims to raise £5,000 to open a new two-floor hub in the former Ablemarle jewellers and pawn brokers premises.

Stuart's goal for 2021 was to expand his counselling service to South Shore to reach more people - and maybe even earn himself a living in the process.

Stuart continued: "We need to be able to help everyone who comes here, which means we need more rooms.

"We're hoping to open the new hub on Waterloo Road before Easter. It will be more of a community hub, with different holistic therapies and hopefully a crafts area too.

"I would love to be able to draw a wage one day. Grants have been paying the bills since we opened, and I don't make anything.

"Luckily, I'm a man of simple pleasures. All that matters to me is that mental health help is available if you need it, and I'll always make sure we can help you."

It is thanks to our loyal readers that we can continue to provide the trusted news, analysis and insight that matters to you. For unlimited access to our unrivalled local reporting, you can take out a subscription here and help support the work of our dedicated team of reporters.