2023-03-31-accounts

Annual Report 22/23

WORTHING COUNSELLING CENTRE

Annual Report for the financial year ended March 2023

2022 - 2023 ANNUAL REPORT

INTRODUCTION

Worthing Counselling Centre was originally set up in 1983. It has changed its name and constitution but still maintains the same ethics and professional standards and with the same charitable objectives.

Worthing Counselling Centre (WCC) is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and as such the Trustees must apply the income of the Charity in furthering the following objectives: Counselling for the relief of people in need, hardship and distress caused by mental or physical ill health or by social or economic circumstances, by establishing, maintaining and developing a service for the provision of counselling and practical advice. Activities performed:

• For the period April 2022 to March 2023 WCC carried out 2,278 counselling sessions.

• We have continued to provide a professional supportive environment for counsellors offering supervision levels in line with British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

REVIEW OF THE YEAR

The service is continuing to offer a more flexible service with Zoom and telephone counselling included in our offer. Our offices at South Downs Leisure’s (SDL) Field Place are a good match for us and fit well with their wellbeing programme at this venue. However, we often have insufficient counselling space at Field Place and are now also using the Friends Meeting Place in Worthing to meet increasing demand. We recognise that it would be difficult to have all our ideal accommodation needs met with our very specific requirements, and within our financial constraints, but they remain on our wish list. We continue to be proactive and consider any potential opportunities.

Contract income enables us to offer subsidised counselling for those in need. We have several clients for whom we offer a counselling Employee Assistance Programme. In the period April 2022 to March 2023 WCC carried out 263 contract sessions.

We have also continued to work closely with West Sussex MIND and developed a strong ongoing professional partnership. In addition, the Head of Service, Emma Castledine, has provided consultation work for MIND.

The main focus this year has been on operational issues. We have had challenges in securing a new IT system but we have now successfully begun this process and the impact upon our operational efficiency is already apparent. We will continue to develop this system and are

working to ensure that we have the system we need. Training for all staff is being rolled out over the next few months.

PEOPLE

Trustees

The trustees have operated as a strategic cohesive team and continue to be ambitious for the organisation but also recognising the risks faced by charities.

Jack Delbridge was a trustee for seven years and stepped down as a trustee due to poor health in 20/21. He has since sadly passed away.

Paula Spencer-Snell stepped down as a trustee. She made a valuable contribution with her social media and website expertise. She was very proactive and we are fortunate that she is still available to assist us from time to time.

Chris Corin stepped down as a trustee in December 2023, and has now retired from his longstanding duties at Worthing Counselling Centre

Chrissy Ryder, who was the Chair of Trustees, also resigned in September 2023 after being with the organisation as both Treasurer and latterly Chair.

Julia Foster, another longstanding trustee, has resigned due to family commitments after giving more than ten years to the organisation.

We have recruited three new trustees Anne Garbutt, Pippa Walcott and Debra Schneider. Debra became Chair of Trustees in December 2023.

We have advertised for additional trustees who may want to join our team in 2024.

Supervision and training

Annette Quinn and Jane Dale continue to offer a very high standard of clinical supervision to the organisation. We are looking to recruit another supervisor to join the team, but the existing supervisors have capacity to fill the gap until we find a suitable replacement.

Neurodivergent training

We were able to secure funding for the staff team to have Neurodivergent Affirming Training by an Autistic trainer and specialist Jodie Isitt. We are aware that the numbers of Neurodivergent clients are increasing and wanted to ensure that our service was more accessible for this client group. All staff were able to access the training, and this is an area we will continue to develop. This training also enabled us to offer counselling, in partnership with West Sussex Mind, for their neurodivergent clients.

25 counsellors reported that they are confident and competent in offering a tailored approach to support neurodivergent young people. They gave written feedback to the service

regarding the impact. We are developing this knowledge as an organisation and are working to become a neurodivergent competent organisation.

Free counselling was offered for 21 young neurodivergent people in partnership with Mind. We use a clinical measure CORE OM to assess our clients progress and an exit interview at the end of therapy. We create a report using this data. We send anonymous feedback forms to enable clients to share their experiences. The feedback from the clients was recorded being consistently positive. Not only are the young people emerging from crisis situations, they are also reporting to 'feel better' . Many young people have made significant changes to their lives in a short time and having access to one impartial consistent person has been really valuable to them. Many of the young people would have liked more time allocated to them but they felt truly listened to without judgement.

We also ran one of our mandatory training sessions on using CORE within practice and Initial Consultation training sessions for counsellors who are eligible for this.

The reputable Confer organisation provided psychotherapy CPD training for our counsellors. Counsellors were able to claim 20.5 hours towards their total hours required. Thank you to Annette Quinn for putting the Confer training together, running the discussion sessions and designing the assessment documents.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

WCC have made a deficit of £13,012 for the year, this was slightly more than budgeted. WCC retains reserves at the end of the year of £51,696.

Our policy for reserves is to hold 6-12 months as an operating reserve for working capital which we have done.

Donations

South Downs Leisure kindly gave us a £500 grant donation and Broadwater Residents Association adopted us as one of their charities and gave us a donation of £741.

We raised £800 at the Broadwater Carnival in July 2023

CLOSING REMARKS

There are challenging times ahead as the mix of clients and their ability to pay has changed dramatically since the Covid pandemic, but we are confident that measures are being put in place to overcome these.

I am very grateful for all the work and commitment of our counsellors, supervisors, management team and my fellow trustees. It is the people who make WCC the fine counselling service that it is.

Debra Schneider

Chair of Trustees

Appendix 1

Details of the Service

Headquarters Worthing Counselling Centre Field Place Manor House, The Boulevard, Worthing BN13 1NP

Contact Details Telephone: [phone] and 07565 546604 E-mail: [e-mail] Website: www.worthingcounsellingcentre.org

Board of Trustees

Christine Ryder 2017 Treasurer from 2017 – Chair from July 2021, resigned September 2023 Chris Corin (Chair) Trustee since 1985 (Chair since 1995) stood down as Chair July 2021, resigned December 2023

Julia Foster 2013, resigned December 2023 Corrine Samaras November 2018 Joseph Saville July 2020 Paula Spencer -Snell date appointed, resigned September 2022 Debra Schneider June 2023, Chair from December 2023 Anne Garbutt June 2023

Charity Registration Number 1181141

Appendix 2

Counselling sessions provided by WCC

A Statistical summary

	22-23	21-22	20-21	19-20	18-19
Initial Consultation	150	120	123	90	65
Supported Counselling	1447	1349	1147	1791	1261
Bursary	274	325	187
Full Fee Paying	144	209	113	406	690
Contract or Employer Funded	263	250	523	88	64
Total Number	2,278	2253	2093	2375	2080

Notes

1. Before 2020 Full Fee-Paying clients did not have a separate Initial Consultation, it was their first session.

OFFINGTON COUNSELLING SERVICE trading as WORTHING COUNSELLING CENTRE Charity no 1181141 Statemènt of Flnancial Activities for the year ending 31 March 23 2022123 2022123 2022123 Unre&trl¢ted Restrlcted Funds Funds Total ounse Ing ncome Cllent Fees Contra 48.940 10,828 69,768 48,940 10.828 59.768 ot Mlsc Trainlr Interest Student Sup?rwsion Recelpts 08$ Grant Income to match expendlture MI￿ R8¢slDonations er ncom 35 35 1,420 120 1,420 120 2,419 1.110 6,103 2,419 1,110 2.784 2,419 xpen ure All Counsellln Conlract Coun5elEors Inltial Consuttotlon Supervisors Annu81 Leave Youno Pe¢)ple Tr￿nIng Assocpale Couns•llor ments to Cotsnsellors 3,502 7,770 3.602 7,770 1,590 11,405 1.077 750 11,405 1,077 750 2.610 27,204 27,204 ana Bment Costs of Cllnl¢al se￿￿e$ 21.077 21.077 Systems Ctrordlnator AdmTr)i$lralSon Grant expendiiure foradmln Penslon Costs Total Mana emènt Ex 2,66e 11,538 2,660 11,538 1.022 36,305 endituie 36,306 Bank Charges Broadband Cov* 152 457 152 457 DBS Safely Cha¢ks Grant Expendltu 260 260 H88d of Cllnlcal Setvlces SuperYl$lon Insurances Marlfeling &Publlc5ty Costs MlsdALKI1trLea￿ng Glftsrrravel New office expedllure P8yroll PhotocopylThJ. Prfnting & Staltonery Postage Rental of Premlses Subs¢riptSons Telephone Tralning Costs Web¥ile Total of O 552 616 179 226 616 179 226 457 458 457 456 9.203 354 1,067 100 374 14.454 354 1,067 100 374 14,464 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 15N31 2,419 3,01 Balance bll SOFA 33,212 15.431 31,497 2,419 64,709 13,012

Transfer8 Balan￿ dl 15,431 15,431 Notos Notes 1- Grants re£elved In 2022123 2,419 Note 3- related partie¥ The￿ wwe no trvstee ol other related p8rtlransadons or remuneration p8yrnents In 2022123 Balance Sheet as at 31 Mar 2023 CurT•nt Assets Cash al Bank 2022123 53.577 2021122 66.288 Debtor 5,363 Llabllltles HMRC pension Other Creditor Rent Creditor Total Assets Lg$$ Llabllltles -75 -511.1 -614 -1,670 -1,472 -192 4,412 .866 64.709 Thè Funds of the Charlty Restricted Funds'.- Un￿$￿1¢t$d Funds:. 20,902 30.795 31,496 33.213 0.00 Reconc Ilatlon ol Thg Funds of thg Charlty ReslrictedFunds.'_ 2021122 blf Incom• Exp•ndlturè 21,425 -13,012 4,170 3.712 96 908 1,184 Chris Bouller Bursary Fund 8,413 4,170 6.131 Granls specifr 8llotr&&on br8ry Danlomo Hond6tson- F8rrtyBere8vemenl 18n ￿58M8￿ Fund- Tr8inlr 2.419 1,184 RestrlctedFunds- fotsl 31A97 2019 43,012 20.902 5trfctedFunds.'. G8ner&l Grants with no 5peafic 81locat￿n Untè8trfetedFunds- Total 33,213 13,012 .15,431 30.795 33,213 13,012 -15,431 30.795 TolalFunds 64710 15,431 -28A43 51,696 signed By Chall￿r$Oh Trga$urer S¢VI Examln•d B