Confide Counselling St Paul's Parish Centre Churchside Chichester West Sussex P019 6FT Telephone., 01243 531914 Webslto., www.coiificle-COLinsellin .co.uk RoglsterÈd Cliarlty No., 1197103 BACP Membershlp No,. 102539 Annual Report 2023
Contents Confide - the Service Conf ide continues to offer counselling support for people livlng in West Sussex who are experiencing hardship or distress through emotional, spiritual, physical, or mental ill health, or by reason of social or economic circumstances. Our Trustees emanate f rom a range of backgrounds including ordained ministry, counselling and social work experience, legal advice, safeguarding and menta I health practice, each having due regard to Charity Commission guidance concerning services for publlc benef It. All our fully qualified counsellors and advanced trainees work as volu nteers with the service and receive regular, prof essional supervlslon. The service is open to anyone, regardless of belief, to talk over problem5 in confidence with someone who will help them to find their own solutions. Those who seek help may be anxious, lonely, or depressed, They may be unemployed or overburdened, have problems wlth chlldren or other mernbers of their family, or facing problems in relatlonshlps, They may be faci ng a difficult decision in life or struggling to come lo terms with il Iness, bereavement, feelings of hopeless or coplng wllh problems of faith. Counsellors aim to provide a sustaining relatlonslilp to those with troubles, building on respect and trust. Conf identiality Is assured. Confide - the service Contents Mission Statement Personnel Report from the Chair Counselllng-service Co-ordlnator's Report Treasurers Report 10 Stonepillow 13 Receptionist Report 15 Sessions are usually on a weekly basis, lasting about one hour. In tlie aftermath of the pandemic, some counsellors offer this service on-lino and via telephone/video so551ons as appropriate, providing valuable choice and f lexibi1ity for c11ent5. Contributions are required, but no one is refused help through lack of means and funding from a bursary is selectively used to lop up such paymonts to realistic levels that cover costs. Publicity 16 Organisational Structure 17 Client Responses 18
Mission Statement Personnel CONFIDE seeks to provide a counselling service for the relief of people in West Sussex who experience hardship or distress by reason of mental or physical ill-health or by reason of social or economic circumstances. Trustees and Management Committee Confide was formed in 1985. a service sponsored by Methodist Churches In Chichester and Bognor Regi5. As such, it5 philosophy and work emanate f rom this Christian base. Confide contine5 to be supported by various other Christian Churches in Chichester and Bognor Regis and their member5. We aro based at St Paul's Church in Chichester and are 8rateful for the h05Pitality provided for us there. A5 a registered Charity in our own right, the 5ervlce is provided wholly for the public benefit. Board of Trustees; Chair of Trusteeslchairperson Trustee / Supervisor / Counsellor Co-ordinator Trustee Revd, Richard More Mary Ashwin Revd. Alison Green Pauline 8arrow Martin Troy Margaret Hambrook Trustee Trustee Trustee/Supervisor Alongside our Counselling Service we work hard to include'.- Provlslon of tralnlng In counselllng for students and colleagues. Co.operatlon and work alon8s1(ie statutory authorltSesi professlonal bodles and voluntary organlsatlons. Additional Mana ement Committee Roles: . Treasu rer Service Ad ministrator Secretary Publicity Officer Inta ke Officer Tineke Zwinkels Tineke Zwinkels Margaret Hambrook Hazel Denman Margaret Hambrook Lesley Bennett Collaboratlon wlth any charltable bodles operatlng wlthln West Sussex wlth similar alms and oblectlves. Receptionist
Report from the Chair 2023 ha5 been a year of further consolidation for Confide Counselling. We are now well settled into new patterns of working following the Covid pandemic. Mary Ashwin, Margaret Hambrook and Tineke Zwinkels are working together to oversee the work previously undertaken by the Counsellor Coordinator and the Trustees are confident that this is working well. Our Service Administrator is keeping the trustees alert to the requirements of the Charity Commi5si0n and we are continuing to make the necessary adjustments. Confide has now been operating for almost 40 years. It was established by the local Methodist Church Circuit in 1985 and became an independent re8lStered charity in December 2021. We are committed to providing 'a 5ervicefor the relief of people in West Sussex who experlence hordship or di5tre55 by re050n of mentol orphysical and ill health or by reason of social or economic circurn5tonce5'. In 2023 we have continued to seek to do that by providing a counselling servlce, whlch Is also avallable to people who might struggle financially to acce55 counselling. We have also continued to offer supervised training placements for student coun5ellors. We consider that we are complyin8 with our duty under section 4 of the 2006 Act to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit. Additional Roles Student Placement Manager Admin Support Assessment Counsel lors Sally Knight Sally Knight Margaret Hambrook, Lesley Bennett, Sally Knight and Tineke Zwinkels Tineke Zwinkels Supervisor Confide Counsellors Jane Anderson Lesley Bennett Hazel Denman Afrodite Erdelyi Jane Everard Jackie Gooding Margaret Hambrook Lucy Holloway Tineke Zwinkels Angle O'Rourke Jane Perrin Anna Schoultz Jonathan Sm ith Al i Smith-Jone5 Noemi Warren The trustees met four times during 2023- generally with members of the Management committee. At present we have one vacancy for a trustee which we are actlvely seeking to fill. At each meeting we receive regular reports on Confide's work with clients seeking counselling and with Stonepillow, and an update on our finances. In the autumn we welcomed Sally Knight a5 3 member of the management omrnittee. Sally brings considerable counselling and administrative experience and is working closely with OLJr Service Administrator. She has taken over responsibility for Stonepillow Intake Assessments and as student placement manager. Tina Webb David Wills Ileft Nov-231 As trustees we are aware of the increasing amount of work involved in administration which is necessary for Confide to run smoothly. It is estimated
that this now require5 14 hours a week. We consider that we Should provide some payment for thi5 work and Would wish this to become a paid post. However, at present this is not financially possible. This year we have made a token payment and will explore making this the basis of funding applications to grant making bodies. This report contains details of our accounts for 2023 and our financial position. We are pleased to have a small exce55 in income over expenditure but this is only possible because of a grant from the St John's charity. We only carry a small reserve and are aware that we nÈed to do more work on fundraising and applications to grant making bodies. Even though all involved in Confide are volunteers, our work cannot be funded alone on donations from clients. This will need to be a priority for the Trustees in 2024. In Confide we are very fortunate to have a number of experienced counsellors who have been wlth us for many years and 8ive generously of their time. We are especially grateful to Mary A5hwin and Margaret Hambrook, who both also serve as Trustees, and who with Tineke Zwinkels are responsible for supervision of the counsellors. We also appreciate a number of gifted student counsellors who have done a placement with us as part of their training. Sadly, for us, on qualifying many need to move on to a paid position. A5 trustees we are very grateful for the members of the management committee, especially Hazel Denman who continues to oversee our publicity, and Tineke Zwinkels and Sally Knight who undertake much of the administration which enables Confide to operate smoothly. We want to thank Le51ey Bennett, one of our experienced coun5ellors who is serving as our receptionist, handling initial enquiries from clients. I continue to be most grateful for the support and wisdom of my fellow trustees. We all feel that it Is a privilege to be involved in the work of Confide. With the cost-of-living crisis and the ongoing repercu5sion5 of the pandemic on mental health, we hear much about the need and value of talking therapie5. We exist to be available to offer help and support for those seeking to manage the complex issues that so many people face today. Richard More Chalr of the Trustees of Confide Counselling Iwest 5ussexl. Counselling Co-ordinator's Annual Report In 2023 Confide had a team of 17 qualified and trainee counsellors. We welcomed five new counsellors,. Tina Webb (Chi Unil, Anna Schoultz Iwaverleyl and Afrodite Erdelyi (Portsmouth Unil for work with Confide clients, Jane Anderson Ichi Unil to work with both Confide and Stonepillow clients, and Ali Smith (Southern Association for Psychotherapy and Counsellingl working with Stonepillow clients. David Wi115 left in October. We would like to thank him for the work done with the clients and wish hlm well for the future. With Tineke Zwinkels completing her supervision course, we have now 3 supervisors and 6 supervision groups. The creation of an additional supervision group was a good opportunity to make some changes in how the groups were set up. There is no longer a Separation between Confide and Stonepillow cllent5. Each group consists of counsellors with mixed level of COLsnselllng experiences. The new set-up enables the sharing of greater knowledge and experience of Client work between the counsellor5. Additionally, counsellors can now work with Confide and Stonepillow clients without havlng to Increase the supervision sessions. In 2023, we had a steady inflow of referrals as indicated in the receptionist report. We had 43 approaches with 32 clients engaging in the counsellin8 sessions. Overall, we offered 708 session5, which 15 a decrease of IO% in comparison with 2022. Clients attended 590 se55ions183QAI, 104115%) cancelled and 1412%) did not attend. Counsellors had to cancel 108 sessions in 2023, compared to 65 sessions in 2022. We are concerned about this level of cancellations. The supervisors will examine this with the counsellors. We See clients mainly face-to-face at St Paul'5 ir¢ Chichester and the Friends, Meeting House in Bognor. We'd like to thank both or8anisations for the on-going support they give in offering their facilities at reduced rates.
Confide Session Details Treasurers Report 900 800 700 LLLL In 2023, the income from client work and individual supervision rose from £8,888.00 to £10,061.50. We received £11,082.50 from various organisations, including £3,600 from St john's Trust, £330.00 from St Paul's PCC and a small donation of £20. 600 500 400 300 200 Stonepillow contributions towards the supervision work wa5 £7,132.50. loo Support from all these organisarlons Is very much appreciated. In 2023, 78% of Contributions per session ranged between £1.00 and £15.00. We received 22/0 of contributions for each session between £20 and £30.00. This represents an increase, from only IO% In 2022. Our overall expenditure was £20,925, an increase of £2,792.00. Additional expenditures were incurred in trairling (supervision and interview51, additional supervisor charges starting in October, and administrative costs, which included a £1,500 paymerst for the Service Administrator / Treasurer. -100 -200 2020 2021 2022 2023 ATT 568 759 677 590 56 81 98 104 IDNA 22 32 15 14 Total 646 872 790 708 Increase 226 -82 -82 Some counselling continues online or by telephone. The latter may increase over time as BACP has made it a requirement now for students to have a split between face-to-face and online therapy lincludin8 telephonel sessions as part of theSr training. The Stonepillow supervision and administration costs totalled £6175.00. As a result, we have had a net inflow of £957.50 from Stonepillow. The bursary fund covered £165.00 for unpaid sessions by clients in 2023. Two clients were supported through the bursary fund - £116.00. The burs3ry fund also covered the cost of hosting the website1£9961 and supervision training IE12001. It is cruclal to note that the costs for the web51te and supervision training have been fully incurred this year, but they will serne as the foundation for Confide's future work in the coming years. Confide's gain in 2023 amounts to just £218. We are acutely aware that without St John's sponsorship, Confide funds would be reduced to a concerning level. The Trustees and managemer)t staff are fully aware of the circumstances. There is a short waiting list due to reduced availability options given by clients, matching clients with the ri8ht counsellors and limited time when we can occupy the room. We had a training session in April to look at the Equal Opportunity Procedure, with Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and Race. Religion and Belief, and Disability in rnind. In November, we had an interesting CPD training day about Internal Family Systems presented by Mary Ashwin. We continue to focus orn the ongoing CPD needs of our counsellors. Grant applications were submitted in 2023 but were denied due to the large concentration of grant allocations to the 'Cost of LivinE crisis. We strive to be more successful in 2024 in obtaining funding for operating costs, a specific project to assist 'Sanctuary in Chichester,, and Couples Therapy Training. Mary Ashwin/Tineke Zwinkels io
We carry professiona1 risks insurance for 15 counsellors Wlth a £2 million indemnity limit for any one event. This will increase to cover 18 counsellors as of February 2024. Income v Cost / Session Confide's finances benefit immensely from the huge amount of time volunteered by the receptionist, counsellors, and committee member5.1 would like to thank them for providing accurate and up-to-date information that has made my job as treasurer easier. The 2023 accounts have been fully approved following independent examination by Roderick Smith and we thank him for his time and commitment in doing this work. Av& Income I session Ave Cost / session Confide Income L2000 ioooo 8000 6000 40DO 2000 20L9 2020 2021 2022 2023 Tineke Zwinkels Treasurer 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 • Client Contributlons 9,090.00 Supervision Income 1,405.00 Donations 1,139.00 5.220.00 1,050.00 682.20 8,404,00 642.50 7,562.00 8,606.50 1,200.00 11,082.50 655.00 3.217.00 8,539.50 Confide Expenditure 16000 14000 12000 Icooo 8000 6000 4000 2000 LI.LL 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Supervlslon & Trainin8 6,365.00 Client Intake 775.00 6,140.00 390.00 8.254.00 11,672.50 13,510.00 750.00 480.00 930.00 Room Hire 3,258.00 590.76 1.202.00 0,00 2,352.00 702.90 1,788.00 Prof. Fee5 610.16 630.72 901.52 Other Admin Exp 1,243,61 941.65 2,771.73 2,926.08 3,796.19 12 li
Stonepillow Report Alison Green continues to work with the Stonepillow Mental Health worker. They talk about various elements of the clinical work and other areas which affect the Work at Stonepillow. In 2023, we offered 513 sessions to the Stonepillow clients. This is a significant amount more than in previous years. Client5 attended 360170Y.I sÈssions, 103 120Yol cancelled and SO IIOO/ol did not attend. With an often-challenging client group the increase 15 encouraEin2 to see. It is the hard work by the counsellors and Stonepillow Staff members- Hadley in Bognor and Toby and Pete in Chichester - that made this happen. Hazel Den man facilitated group sessions set up for staff members in the first quarter of 2022. In April 2023 after a year of operati ng, Stonepillow Management team decided to review this group work based on staff views on siting and difficulties a round attendance. Currently there is no indication whether these sessions will be re-started. Stoneplllow Session Details We want to thank Hazel and Ali50n for the tlme and work they have put into these add itional services. 600 500 400 A core team of counsellors continues to provide counselling to Stonepillow staff members as and when requested, In the form of short- I'orm coun5elli ng between 2 to 6 sesslons. The feedback from those rc'coiving this support has been very positive and it has been gratef ully IpyrLJciated by staff and ma nagement. 300 200 LOO Wo are thankful for continued financial support from Stonepillow lowards the costs of supervlslng counsellors. -100 2020 2021 2022 2023 I".ATT 262 321 234 360 111111 CAN 30 32 70 103 DNA 22 35 52 50 Mary Ashwin/Tineke Zwinkels Counselllng- Servlce Co-ordinator. 314 388 356 513 blncrea5e 74 -32 157 We have a few clients on the waltlng list. For 2024 we introduced the intake assessment process of the clients by a dedicated Intake assessor. The main asses50r will be Sally Knight who will be doing the intakes either by phone or in person. After the intake, the clients can be allocated to a counsellor. The change is in response to feedback from the colleges and students. 14 13
Receptionist Report Publicity The summary below gives a breakdown of the number of calls and web enquiries received during 2023. CONFIDE is a well known and well-respected Service that has operated in the Chichester and Bognor Regis areas for almost 39 years. This means that recommendations to use our service often occur via word of mouth from one userto another, and the need to advertise our service is minimal. While referrals remain high, no further publicity activity is required, but at times of low referrals we do use local magazines (such as Sussex Views) to p.nsure that our communities are aware that we have space. This was PLirticularly important during the pandemic when few counselling agencies continued to provide a service and CONFI DE was able to offer Zoom a nd Tol('.phone counselling. "Iwicp a year a Supply of leaf lets are sent to over 80 associates and partner iIHL¥ncies. This together with a similar mailout of our Annual Report means Ili<il we. maintain close contact and updates on a regular basls. It was P(Irtlcularly unfortunate that last year a dispute arose between the Post OflicL) and Royal Mail overthe stamps used to mall ourAnnual Report. Iluya l Mail refused to accept that the sta mps provided by the Post Off ice were valid resulting in a number of our partners and associated being charged for delivery, or post not being delivered at all. After formal complaint, we did receive a small compensation payment from the Post Office. It has been noted that not all callers leave a message and some of these have dialling codes outside the Chichester area or are private numbers. Enqulrles for Intake proce55ed Enqulrles for Counselllng not processed General enqulrles Admln messages I follow up Contact from / to counselloTS 2023 Tolyl TLIL- phone 3.1 Web 25 15 3(? 76 Total 58 29 25 52 21 Coun5elllng enqulrles not processed. We were unable to process certain enqulrles due to availability, expert mental health help necessary, request5 for couples counsellinB, adoption-related cour15elling, free counselling, clients from beyond our geographic area, or clients who did not respond to offer additional information. Intake processed and not proce55ed This represents the number of different potential clients not the total number of times reception may have had contact with each person. Hopefully thls has been corrected th is year but please do get in touch If you are still lacking, and would like to receive, last year's report. Lesley Bennett Hazel Denman 15 16
Organisational Structure Confide is a not-for-profit organisation, an independent registered charity under the Charity Commission. Nominated individuals can applyfor vaca ncies on the Boa rd of the Trust and become Trustees following a selection procedure managed by the Board involving personal references and interview. The Board of Trustees works closely with the Management Com mittee, often in joint meetings of which they are members. Serving on the Management Commlttee are the Chair of Trustees, the Counselling Co-ordinator, Cou nselling Supervisor, Trustee5, Service Administrator, Treasurer, Publ icity, Reception and Counsellor Representatives. Client Responses We send feed back questionnaires when our clients have finished their counselling, and ask permission for their responses to be shared anonymously. Here are some of them.. "Counselling ha5 given me u pathwoy und structure towards rj hcjppier Ilfe, 'My Ilfe is more reloxed now." The Management Committee meets around three times a year. It deals with all matters of organisation, admin istration, flnance, professional standards, publicity, and relationships with other organisations includlng the community in which Conf ide operates. Conflde receives reports and recommendations from its officer5, including recommendations related to the appointment of new counsellors. "Counselllng allowed me to Just "be" with no expectation5 on me. "I can cope now wli'l? everytlilnL7 that Is required of me. "Tlie counsellor enabled me tofuce thef'uture witli more confidence and eniliuslasm, "rile coun5elllng Iielped me to recounlze tliul. myflrst re5ponslblllty Is to myself and my own woll-belng," All the Confide officers, and the Management Committee, are f inally accountable to it5 Trustees. "Ifeel grounded In myself, and I don't need to surrender my valldatlon to anyone else." "Counselllng helped me to accept what hoppened, and uncover other 155ues." "Counselling enabled me to be more compossionote with myself." "Counselling provided me with supportive conversotions obout very difficult personal topics. "Counselling helped me to re-frame my experiences,. 17 18
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND YIAIES Cwffid• Counsellir (W•si SUXI 1197103 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a Forthe period 01NJ1rdor4 3111212023 Section A Receipts and payments Unrestricted funds Restri¢tsd lunds En¢Sowment lunds funds Lastyoar tothe rftarest t tothejt tothe neare£ >th& rest£ knthe nearest£ A1 Re¢ei DonatnS and Grants 11.083 8.862 11.983 8,570 supe 733 totsil mss income 2t.144 21.144 17,705 A2 Assetand ihvestmentsales, Is8• Z1,144 21,144 17.70 A3P ments Prmtin9 % StaIry 123 2249 181 1.760 930 11.750 461 1.788 125 2249 181 1.76 930 11,7 461 162 1.185 263 1.020 AdMStratn, AGM & MiscelLe$ TelephME SupeNIsi InsUnce 11.878 423 2J51 Use ol PreSe$ Websr.e DÈsvJn 1.788 225 AMOtWfres ISubscnptiMs Sub torai 20,925 26 18,867 A4 Ass6t and investm•nt pUhaSe5. seè tsble Sub total 20.926 2Q.926 18,867 Net ofrecel(paYmentrj A6 Transftrrs between funds A6 Cash funds laStyr end Cash funds thts yearend 218 218 1,162 8,33 7.174 7.392 7,392 Section B Statement of assets and Ilabllities at the end of the period Restricted fvnds to neareste Fndowm¢nt lunds at45t£ fvnds Èarestt B1 Cash funds 7.132 Total¢ash funds 7,392 51,. funds funds fvnds
Details n4r•st£ . •### Currentyalue Detsli B3 Investmentassets Fund cost10p03 Curtentvalue loplpJnaJl B4 Assets retained for the charlty's own use ATh>yJduÈ tionall Detail-.. I¢ptiorkylJ BS Liabilities The following Trustees and Cornmittee memters red reimbwrnerrt forexpenses inrJJrred during the stated pÈrithl. In addthon lo the expen5e5, the follo%%ing paynts were made for servKes provJed durirvJ year. ConfideRelated PartYTranSa(I 5umrn•ry Istn2025. 3tstDx202J Tru$t*s MaryAshwin-TwStet MargaretMambrook-Trustee i50n Green-Tru5tee £om £5220.(0 £5210.ro £W.L £Q(t) PknnAgernent Cornmtra•• aEel Denrnan- PubltY rineke Zwinkels-SeNceAdmthistratorlfa IPeI50r £576.74 f450. £3J25.ro &gned byone $tee$ on bphaw Dfall Irusiees Oate of roval SvJnature Print Name Ric 1312¢ 211&12, $& CCXX R2 accounts 14 03 2024