Author: Paul Mills

Charity shop closure but our support services are running

As we enter the second lockdown of the year, we are sorry to say that our Wiltshire Mind charity shop in Melksham will be closed. This will cost our charity much needed income over the coming weeks.

Wiltshire Mind provides mental health support to our local community. Last year alone we helped provide over 1100 one-to-one counselling sessions for adults across Wiltshire. We continue to provide counselling through lockdown, and we are eternally gratefully to our team of volunteer counsellors. We also provide counselling support to those aged 11+, and the demand for young people’s counselling grows monthly.

This latest lockdown and the effects of the pandemic means that all mental health services are struggling to cope with the demand. Wiltshire Mind relies on fundraising, grants and donations from individuals and businesses to keep our services running. Despite helping the already over-stretched system, we have to rely totally on voluntary income.

Our peer support groups are currently not able to meet due to venue restrictions, but we are actively looking to run online support groups. If you are interested in attending these, please do contact us at counselling@wiltshiremind.co.uk.

For more information on our services, please contact us on 01225 706532 or email counselling@wiltshiremind.co.uk

Wiltshire Mind is recruiting for a new role, Service Delivery Assistant – Counselling. Our support services are in demand more than ever, and we are growing our 1-1 counselling service.

This role includes conducting counselling initial assessment appointments and, also holding wellbeing calls.  It will also involve building relationships with the Counsellors within the charity in order to be able to allocate clients to the appropriate counsellor. A counselling qualification is essential to the role and experience of holding counselling assessments would be an advantage.  The successful candidate will work closely with our Counselling Lead and Counselling Co-ordinator to ensure the smooth running of this part of the service. 

Check out the details here on the job advertisement and job description.

Make a difference today, and work for Wiltshire Mind.

On Saturday 10th October, our Charity Shop in Melksham held a SALE to mark this years World Mental Health Day.

Our Shop Manager and her fantastic team of Wiltshire Mind Volunteers held a £2.50 per item sale. The proceeds of the sale will go towards towards our counselling services across Wiltshire.

We’d like to thank everyone that came into the shop on Saturday. It was lovely to see so many local people supporting our charity, and grab a bargain or two!

Wiltshire Mind provides 1-1 counselling to support those experiencing mental health problems or emotional distress. Last year, we were able to able to provide over 1000 counselling sessions for our communities across Wiltshire. Sadly, we receive no funding directly from local government or from our local NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups. But we remain at the heart of the county offering self-referral counselling and Mental Health Awareness Training.

Wiltshire Mind is an independent charity, and affiliated to Mind. If you’d like to support Wiltshire Mind, please do drop by our shop in Melksham – or you can donate at https://www.justgiving.com/wiltshire-mind. We need to raise £465 a day to carry on providing our services.

For more information on Wiltshire Mind, visit our website. Why not follow our shop on Facebook too – we’ll regularly post bargains and sale information. https://www.facebook.com/Wiltshiremindcharityshop

Its World Mental Health Day on Saturday 10th October. Our Charity Shop in Melksham will be holding an all-day SALE. Why not pop along and see us?! We’ve got bargains galore, and all proceeds go directly to supporting our mental health services across Wiltshire, including our vital 1-1 counselling for those experiencing mental health problems or emotional distress.

Please support us today if you can. https://www.justgiving.com/wiltshire-mind.

Thank you! To provide our mental health support services, we need to keep on raising £465 a day. Every penny makes a massive difference.

Our shop is can be found in Melksham on Church Street.

We are on Facebook too! https://www.facebook.com/Wiltshiremindcharityshop

Story posted on September 2, 2020 – appeared in Melksham News

LOCAL charity Wiltshire Mind has experienced a ‘large increase’ in enquiries for its counselling services as lockdown restrictions continue to be lifted.

And the charity is anticipating that the need for support will increase as the recession takes hold and more people face financial uncertainty.

The increase in demand for the charity’s services comes at a time when it has been reported that twice as many adults in Britain are experiencing symptoms of depression now, compared with this time last year. Figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest that one in five people appeared to have depressive symptoms compared with one in ten before the pandemic.

Counselling lead at Wiltshire Mind, Philippa Collins, told Melksham News, “We are saddened to read the recent statistics that rates of depression have doubled during the pandemic. 

“We initially noticed a down-turn in counselling enquiries during the first few months of the lockdown, however, we experienced an increase in enquiries for immediate telephone support through our wellbeing check service. The reduction in counselling enquiries was not unexpected as we believe many people were still coming to terms with the situation. Much like any crisis or trauma, it can take time to process the shock of what is happening and to have the capacity to process this. 

“Since July, we have experienced a large increase in counselling enquiries by comparison. We recognise that this links to the gradual lifting of lockdown. We are anticipating there to be an increased need for our services going forward as government financial support measures are wound down, and the recession takes hold.

“For anyone experiencing depression, we recommend talking to someone you trust about how you’re feeling, spending time out in nature, taking regular gentle exercise, having structure to your day, for example, planning at least one activity per day. We would always suggest talking to your GP if you are struggling.

“The pandemic has been a challenging time as all of our services are usually provided face-to-face and it took time to plan how to continue to support our service users in a safe way.

“Our one-to-one counselling service provides support to people who are suffering with stress, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem or emotional distress. We initially paused this service due to the restrictions. 

“We began offering telephone counselling for existing clients from April, and from June we have offered counselling using an online platform for both existing and new clients, which has proved popular. 

“We also offer a Young People’s Service which provides support to people aged between 11 and 18 who are experiencing mental health difficulties. This service operated over the telephone for existing clients from April and counselling for new clients resumed via an online platform in August. 

“We are now completing risk assessments to plan for resuming face-to-face counselling. We are aiming for October, but of course this depends on any changes to government guidelines. 

“We intend to have a phased return, meaning that we will offer both face-to-face and online counselling, depending on the individual client need. Our weekly peer support groups are offered across seven locations in the county, and provide a safe, friendly place for anyone experiencing mental health issues. We have been unable to continue these groups during the pandemic but have offered a new weekly wellbeing phone call to these service users. This has been well-received, particularly for those service users who are isolated or needed to shield. Again, we are risk assessing how we can resume our face-to-face groups in a safe way, which includes being guided by the individual venue and their own risk assessment.

“Our charity shop in Church Street, Melksham, re-opened in July. This not only provides much-needed funds for our service, but also offers volunteering opportunities to members of our community, enabling them to gain experience and also supports their well-being. We are currently accepting donations to the shop, however there are some limitations, so we ask that these are pre-arranged by calling 01225 704985.

“We usually offer a mental health awareness training service to local businesses, which enables them to recognise early signs of mental health issues in their team and take early action to support the employee. We are also able to arrange accredited mental health First Aid training. This is another source of funding for us which has been paused during the pandemic, however we are happy to take enquiries from local businesses to discuss future needs.

“Wiltshire Mind is a self-funding charity and, as with many charities, we have experienced a vast reduction in funding during the pandemic. We welcome any donations from the community and local businesses. People can donate online via www. justgiving.com/wiltshire-mind or contact us in the office for more details.

“For any enquiries about our services or to discuss fundraising possibilities, please contact our office on 01225 706532 between 9am-1pm, Monday to Friday.”

With the summers holidays drawing to a close, we wanted to say a very big thank you to everyone who continues to support us. There are so many ways you contribute to the work of the charity – from donating to volunteering, raising funds or helping us raise awareness. Its fabulous, the amount of support we receive from the community.

Every penny raised makes a big difference.

The pandemic has provided a challenge to the way we provide our services, and we are hoping we can re-instate these fully in the coming months. We are so grateful to our staff team and volunteers too who are currently doing well-being checks and calls with our clients during this difficult time.

Whatever your personal contribution to Wiltshire Mind, we are really grateful. Stay safe at this time, and check out our latest news here on a regular basis.

Wiltshire Mind would like to say a huge thank you to Ellie who very bravely, and very publicly shaved her head, whilst live streaming it online, all in aid of us.

Ellie raised an impressive £308. Check out her before, during and after images below!

Thank you Ellie, you’re an inspiration to us all.

We are Recruiting for Support Group Volunteers

We are recruiting for volunteers who will support us within Support Groups across Wiltshire.  The role of a volunteer in these groups is to work with the Group Facilitator in order to create and safe and open space for service users.  Tasks may include setting up and clearing away, helping with refreshments and getting involved with group activities and discussions with group members.  A volunteer would need to be able to hold the group should the facilitator need to leave the room for a time within the session, however, they would not be expected to lone work as there will always be a member of the Wiltshire Mind team on site within the setting.

Although we are currently unable to open the groups due to COVID-19 guidance, we are recruiting for volunteers now ready for such a time when face-to-face groups can re-commence.  If your application is successful, a full DBS check will be carried out.

Details of the groups are as follows:

• Chippenham  –  Mondays 10am – 1pm
• Devizes  –  Tuesdays 10am – 1pm
• Malmesbury  –  Mondays 10am – 1pm
• Melksham  –  Wednesdays 1pm – 4pm
• Salisbury  –  Fridays 10.30am – 1.30pm
• Tidworth  –  Thursdays 10.30am – 1.30pm
• Trowbridge  –  Fridays 10.30am – 1.30pm

If you are interested in supporting Wiltshire Mind as a volunteer for this service, please contact the office either by email on office@wiltshiremind.co.uk or call 01225 706532 where we would be happy to answer any questions and provide you with an application form.