Funded for a youth counselling project by Talbot Village Trust in January 2024, CEO Claire Ranford details the unprecedented workload of her 23-strong team at relationship support charity Relate Bournemouth, Poole & Christchurch.
“From the moment we received funding from the Trust, we had already allocated almost all of it to local school children and young people”, says Claire.
“Prior to the start of our two-year project, we had accumulated a significant waiting list of young people in need of our help from schools across the conurbation.
“From January to March, we worked with 72 children and young people, and our two-year project was rapidly turned around in three months! Schools continue to request our support as there’s still such a huge need, and we remain in touch with people on the ‘front line’.
“I can sit and look at statistics all day, but to hear the situation firsthand through real-life stories is so much more meaningful.”
The nature of mental health support and provision for children and young people varies widely according to area, and is often difficult to calculate in scale. Relate continually looks to refine and improve its referrals process to ensure that support reaches areas and people that need it most.
As a household brand most synonymous with providing adult relationship counselling, Claire stresses that Relate’s services are designed to support the mental health and wellbeing of the whole family. Relate also specialises in counselling services for children, young people and their families, seeking to reduce barriers experienced by those in greatest need.
Claire says: “We target pockets of poverty in areas such as Boscombe and West Howe – many families in these areas otherwise couldn’t afford counselling services. Our centre saw the biggest volume of cases in a decade over the past year, so we’ve had to recruit more Counsellors to fulfil our service – it’s really kept us on our toes.
“When you take on a new client, you’d ordinarily plan this as six sessions per student or young person, but it can vary. Some students aren’t ready to engage and others need additional sessions. It’s very difficult to see how far our funding can stretch within the confines of our capacity. In many cases, CAMHS waiting lists for counselling can be up to two years or entirely out of reach due to increasing thresholds.
“We recently had a parent cry on the phone when he heard his child had a part-funded counselling space with us. Our service is not the same as statutory NHS support, where people may already be in the system with complex needs; we aim to help support children, young people and their families upstream, before problems spiral further.”
Maria first came across Relate when her son Malik’s mental health began to affect his daily life. She says: “I have two children, and the oldest, my 16-year-old son Malik, began to have some mental health struggles at the beginning of the pandemic. We sought out some support and we were seen at the time, which we thought had helped.
“However, last year when he was going through his GCSEs, we noticed he was struggling again. We reached out to the school, but their pastoral care already had a waiting list as so many children were needing help. Later in college, he’d began asking bigger questions about where his life was going and what he wanted to do with it. He was also skipping sessions, and I just felt that something really wasn’t right, so I reached out to Relate for their help.
“A lot of parents I know have children in a similar situation and I think it’s a hard world to be a teenager in but Relate have been wonderful! The six sessions that Malik attended were great, they’ve really helped him to share his worries impartially. Malik is more equipped to deal with things, and has made decisions for himself that have had a positive impact. He’s began to speak up more and discuss his feelings through skills he’s picked up at the sessions.”
For Relate, the most prevalent issues seem to be anxiety and anger, together with emotional regulation and family issues. Claire says: “Our data also highlights that since the COVID-19 lockdowns, school-related worries have risen, along with feelings of being overwhelmed and stressed in young people.
“Our counselling can help young people to engage with, re-discover and enjoy school again, whilst also helping them to de-stress and interact better with family.
Relate is a national federation of around 40 counselling charities across the UK. As a federated member, Relate Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch operates as an independent charity that bids for its own funding and resources.
Local schools have shown an appreciation for the value of Relate’s work within their setting. Many contribute to the cost of sessions and support Relate in identifying families in greatest need, ensuring the Charity reaches those who are most likely to engage in therapy.
Speaking about the project moving forward, Claire adds: “Knowing how much we can deliver, it underlines the growing scale of what we are doing and what we can manage. For the moment, we’ve been asking schools to help contribute to our costs, but we recognise their budgets are already stretched. We’re looking to fundraise to plug the gap to continue a longer project, now that we’ve seen both the demand for it and the impact it can have.”
