Persimmon puts the wind in the Willows with grand boost

A service that offers subsidised counselling to meet the mental health needs of local people on zero, or low income, is the latest recipient of funding from Persimmon.

Persimmon Homes Wessex has awarded Willows Counselling & Training a £1,000 grant as they continue to help local groups and charities in the area.

Persimmon donates up to £64,000 a month to fund initiatives as part of the highly successful Community Champions scheme.

Established over 32 years ago, Willows Counselling & Training offer counselling support for people facing difficult life issues and want to talk in confidence about them. Recognised as a leading counsellor training agency, they also run programmes for people who want to become counsellors up to Diploma level.

Jaq Cameron, Fundraising and Marketing Manager at Willows, said: “We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone at Persimmon Homes, this is the best possible way to start 2022.

“Each year more than 300 people contact us for support and we carefully match them with a Counsellor who is professionally trained and passionate about supporting others.

“This £1,000 will enable us to offer two people from deprived areas, which are within a 20-mile radius of Willows, a place on our 12-week Stabilisation Programme. This means they will only have to pay £5 towards a counselling session which costs £50.

“They will receive one counselling session a week for 12 weeks on our Stabilisation Programme which empowers people to learn new tools for living. It upskills them to manage their mental health lives better and results in an improved quality of life. Our evidence shows that after these sessions they often don’t need further counselling and if they do, they require less sessions.

“There are 16 neighbourhoods in Swindon that are in the most deprived 10% in England and these areas have the highest concentration of mood and anxiety disorders. This means a relatively high proportion are benefit recipients - claiming due to mental health conditions.

“The funding we’ve received from Persimmon will have a positive impact on individuals and the wider community so it’s fantastic news.”

Pauline Fletcher, sales director for Persimmon Homes Wessex, said: “We’re delighted to be supporting Willows Counselling & Training with our Community Champions donation this month.

“The team offers invaluable information, guidance and support to help empower people who want to live with better mental health which is really inspiring.

“The coronavirus pandemic has increased demand for people who are looking for these types of services so we hope this funding will enable Willows to meet this growing demand and offer even more support to the people who need it most.”

For more information visit www.willowscounselling.org.uk, or to apply for Community Champions funding from Persimmon Homes visit www.persimmonhomes.com/charity.