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2024-12-31-accounts

Mission Statement

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.

Confide was formed in 1985, a service sponsored by Methodist Churches in Chichester and Bognor Regis. As such, its philosophy and work emanate from this Christian base. Confide continues to be supported by various other Christian Churches in Chichester and Bognor Regis and their members. We are based at St Paul’s Church in Chichester and are grateful for the hospitality provided for us there.

As a registered Charity in our own right, the service is provided wholly for the public benefit.

Confide

Counselling

St Paul’s Parish Centre Churchside Chichester West Sussex PO19 6FT

Telephone: 01243 531914 Website: www.confide-counselling.co.uk Registered Charity No: 1197103 BACP Membership No: 102539

Alongside our Counselling Service we work hard to include:-

bodies and voluntary organisations.

Annual Report 2024

with similar aims and objectives.

Confide - the Service

Confide provides counselling support for people living 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 from a range of backgrounds including ordained ministry, counselling and social work experience, legal advice, safeguarding and mental health practice, each having due regard to Charity Commission guidance concerning services for public benefit. All our fully qualified counsellors and advanced trainees work as volunteers with the service and receive regular, professional supervision.

The service is open to anyone, regardless of belief, to talk over problems 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 with children or other members of their family, or facing problems in relationships. They may be facing a difficult decision in life or struggling to come to terms with illness, bereavement, feelings of hopeless or coping with problems of faith. Counsellors aim to provide a sustaining relationship to those with troubles, building on respect and trust. Confidentiality is assured.

Sessions are usually on a weekly basis, lasting about one hour. In the aftermath of the pandemic, some counsellors offer this service on-line and via telephone/video sessions as appropriate, providing valuable choice and flexibility for clients. Contributions are required, but no one is refused help through lack of means and funding from a bursary is selectively used to top up such payments to realistic levels that cover costs.

Client Responses

We send feedback questionnaires when our clients have finished their counselling, and ask permission for their responses to be shared anonymously. Here are some of them:

“Counselling has given me time to talk about how I feel, which I have not had the opportunity to do before.’

‘Counselling has helped me to see things in a different light, evaluate and process situations better and act accordingly.’

‘Its been cathartic opening up and discussing things in past and present, its made me realistic and calmer.’

‘Counselling has enabled me to have more understanding of how to cope with my son.’

~ : ~

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18

Organisational Structure

Confide is a not-for-profit organisation, an independent registered charity under the Charity Commission. Nominated individuals can apply for vacancies on the Board 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 Committee, often in joint meetings of which they are members. Serving on the Management Committee are the Chair of Trustees, the Counselling Co-ordinator, Counselling Supervisor, Trustees, Service Administrator, Treasurer, Publicity, Reception and Counsellor Representatives.

The Management Committee meets around three times a year. It deals with all matters of organisation, administration, finance, professional standards, publicity, and relationships with other organisations including the community in which Confide operates. Confide receives reports and recommendations from its officers, including recommendations related to the appointment of new counsellors.

All the Confide officers, and the Management Committee, are finally accountable to its Trustees.

Contents

Confide – the service 1
Contents 2
Personnel 3/4
Report from the Chair 5/6
Stonepillow 7/8
Service Administrator’s Report 9
Treasurers Report 10/11/12
Counselling Co-ordinator’s Annual Report 13
Publicity 14
Receptionist Report 15/16
Organisational Structure 17
Client Responses 18
Mission Statement 19

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2

Personnel

Reasons for enquiries not being processed through the system have included:

Trustees and Management Committee

Board of Trustees:

Chair of Trustees/Chairperson Revd. Richard More Trustee/ Supervisor/Counsellor Co-Ordinator Mary Ashwin Trustee Janet Aldridge (joined Jan’25) Trustee Revd. Alison Green Trustee Pauline Barrow (retired Feb’25) Trustee Martin Troy Trustee/Supervisor Margaret Hambrook

Other

Reasons for other have included:

- Additional Management Committee Roles:

Treasurer Tineke Zwinkels Service Administrator Tineke Zwinkels Secretary Margaret Hambrook Publicity Officer Hazel Denman Intake Officer Margaret Hambrook Receptionist Lesley Bennett

Lesley Bennett

Additional Roles

Student Placement Manager Admin Support Assessment Counsellors

Supervisor

Sally Knight Sally Knight Margaret Hambrook, Lesley Bennett, Sally Knight and Tineke Zwinkels Tineke Zwinkels

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3

Receptionist Report

The details below give a breakdown of the number of calls received and messages during 2024 and the comparison to 2023. It does not record any calls that were of a scam or marketing type.

Reception Statistics 2024

2024 Intake enquiries
processed		 Intake enquiries
not processed		 Other messages
Telephone 19 13 46
Web 35 14 27
Total 54 27 73

----- Start of picture text -----
Comparison 2023-2024
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Telephone Telephone
Web 2023 Web 2024
2023 2024
Enquiries for intake
33 36 19 35
processed
Counselling enquires not
General enquiries 1462 2515 1346 1427
processed
Total 109 76 78 76
----- End of picture text -----

Confide Counsellors

Jane Anderson (Left June 2024)

Lucy Barrington Lesley Bennett Hazel Denman Afrodite Erdelyi Kim Evans Jane Everard (Left July 2024) Jackie Gooding Heather Gwenlan Margaret Hambrook Kate Hicks Keith Howard Martin Lofty Angie O’Rourke Jo Osmond Jane Perrin (Left June 2024) Anna Schoultz Jonathan Smith Ali Smith-Jones Noemi Warren Tina Webb Tineke Zwinkels (Darren James and Miriam Valencia joining in March 2025)

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4

Report from the Chair

Later this year we will be marking the 40[th] anniversary of the establishment of Confide by the Chichester and Bognor local Methodist Church circuit. Their concern was to obtain training so that they could make pastoral counselling available to people, who might otherwise struggle to access counselling support. While the work of Confide has developed during the last 40 years, not least in being registered as an independent charity, our aim has remained unaltered. We are committed to providing ‘ a 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.

In 2024 we have continued to do that by providing a counselling service for people who might struggle financially to access counselling and also to provide supervised training placements for student counsellors. We consider that we are complying with our duty under section 4 of the 2006 Act to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit. At present we have 6 trustees. Pauline Barrow has reluctantly resigned as she is no longer able to attend meetings. We are sorry that she is leaving us and are most grateful for all that she has given to Confide over many years as a counsellor and latterly as a trustee. In 2024 Richard More and Mary Ashwin, who were both foundation trustees, completed their initial term and were reappointed. We are also delighted that Janet Aldridge has agreed to rejoin as a trustee, and she will bring a wealth of experience. We still have one vacancy which we are keen to fill.

During 2024 the trustees met 3 times-each time along with members of the Management Committee. We have also established a small sub-committee to draw up a policy on Remuneration for the Service Administrator. We now have a clinical supervision group, Mary Ashwin, Margaret Hambrook Tineke Zwinkels and Sally Knight who meet monthly to oversee our work with clients. This covers much of the work that previously was done by the Counselling Coordinator. They provide a report at each trustee meeting and we consider that this is working smoothly and efficiently.

Publicity

Publicity for CONFIDE continues to be delivered via regular leaflet mailouts with detailed information on the progress and activities of the service being provided by this annual report booklet. Many local organisations, charities, agencies, and individuals receive these and CONFIDE remains open to hearing from any interested parties who would wish to be added to our mailing list.

CONFIDE owes its excellent reputation locally to the continued positive feedback from our users and associates, working hard to ensure professional standards (as established British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapist - BACP), are upheld. All publicity material and articles reflect this commitment.

As we enter out 40[th] year, we look forward to continuing to serve the local community at a time when family stress and public mental health remain significant challenges for the provision of services. It is here where CONFIDE seeks to establish an important professional contribution alongside the statutory agencies and our partners.

Hazel Denman

As Service Administrator, Tineke Zwinkels continues to do an enormous amount

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Counselling Co-ordinator’s Annual Report

During 2024 we welcomed Heather Gwenlan, Jo Osmond, Kate Hicks, Katherine Labedz, Keith Howard, Martin Lofty and Kim Evans as student counsellors.

Jane Perrin and Jane Everard left Confide during the year following their qualification. Jane Anderson and Katherine Labedz decided to complete their placement elsewhere. We thank them for the work done with Confide and Stonepillow clients and wish them well for the future.

There has been a positive response to the introduction of bringing a subject to discuss in the first 30 minutes of the supervision evening, when all counsellors are together. We have had interesting subjects, and it has created a good bond between those who otherwise would not interact much.

The presentation of a combination of Confide and Stonepillow work in the smaller supervision groups works well. It has been felt that it enriches the group supervision experience.

We organised 2 training events in 2024, both were well attended by counsellors and trustees.

SESSION DETAILS:

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1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
-100
-200
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
ATT 568 759 677 590 750
CAN 56 81 98 104 140
DNA 22 32 15 14 16
Total 646 872 790 708 906
Increase 226 -82 -82 198
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Counsellors continue to see clients at St Paul’s Church, Bognor Friends Meeting House or at the Stonepillow locations. We’d like to thank these organisations for providing facilities and Mary for providing supervision rooms.

of work that ensures the smooth running of Confide. Even though we are only a small counselling agency, the administrative requirements are still considerable. She continues also to serve as treasurer giving us clear reports on our financial position and bud 13 which is essential if we are to be get, successful in making funding applications. During 2024 Tineke has also been working on creating a Handbook to bring together our updated policy documents and procedures, which will be very helpful to trustees and counsellors alike. It will be regularly reviewed at the first trustee meeting each year.

As Chair I am most grateful for the support and wisdom of my fellow trustees. We enjoy working together. We are also well served by our Management Committee. Sally Knight continues to assist Tineke and is responsible for student placements. Hazel Denman oversees publicity and Lesley Bennett as receptionist, handles the initial enquiries from clients. We are very grateful to them for all that they do. However, central to the work of Confide are our counsellors. We are fortunate to have a gifted team of experienced counsellors and also, a number of student counsellors who are doing a placement with us as part of their training All counsellors are required to attend a supervision session fortnightly, and the provision of professional supervision is a very important part of our work. All of our counsellors are unpaid and give freely of their time and skill to our clients. We are aware that counselling can be very demanding for counsellor and client alike. Comments that we receive from clients on finishing their counselling, often show how much it is valued. Since 1985 Confide has been offering help and support for people who feel they are struggling with some of the complex issues of life. Now 40 years later, we are very aware that such help and support is needed more than ever.

On Sunday 28th September at 10am we will be joining the congregation at St Paul's, Church, Chichester for a service in which we will reflect and celebrate 40 years of ministry of Confide Counselling. The service will be followed by refreshments in the Parish Centre. Do please note the date now and we hope that both past and present members of Confide will be able to join us. We have so much for which to give thanks.

Richard More

Chair of the Trustees of Confide Counselling (West Sussex).

Mary Ashwin/Tineke Zwinkels

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13

Stonepillow Report

A total of 24 Stonepillow clients were supported with counselling in 2024 with 451 client sessions offered, which is a reduction of 12% from 2023. 329 (73%) sessions were attended, 83 (18%) cancelled and 39 (9%) were not attended with no notice given.

40 referrals for clients supported by Stonepillow were received, the majority of which were for male clients being supported in the Bognor area. We work closely with the Stonepillow team in arranging assessments which can also involve the contribution of a client’s keyworker, and under the new procedure introduced in January the intake assessments are carried out either on the phone or face-toface in the Chichester Stonepillow hub.

Stonepillow Session Details

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600
500
400
300
200
100
0
-100
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
ATT 262 321 234 360 329
CAN 30 32 70 103 83
DNA 22 35 52 50 39
Total 314 388 356 513 451
Increase 74 -32 157 -62
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Confide Income

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12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Client Contributions 9,090.00 5,220.00 8,404.00 7,562.00 8,606.50 10,795.60
Supervision Income 1,405.00 1,050.00 642.50 655.00 1,200.00 1,270.00
Stonepillow 0.00 0.00 1,575.00 6,142.50 7,132.50 7,537.50
Donations 1,139.00 682.20 1,672.00 2,397.00 3,950.00 7,958.67
----- End of picture text -----

----- Start of picture text -----
20000
18000 Confide Expenditure
16000
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Supervision & Training 6,365.00 6,140.00 8,254.00 11,672.50 13,510.00 17540.00
Client Intake 775.00 390.00 750.00 480.00 930.00 930.00
Room Hire 3,258.00 1,202.00 0.00 2,352.00 1,788.00 4,734.50
Prof. Fees 590.76 610.16 630.72 702.90 901.52 1,088.32
Other Admin Exp 1,243.61 941.65 2,771.73 2,473.58 1,761.19 2,822.97
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This client group can have challenging personal circumstances, and the intake assessment offers an opportunity to help clients understand what counselling may involve and establish whether this is an appropriate time for counselling support, or whether the brief psychological interventions offered by the Stonepillow mental health team might be more appropriate.

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Tineke Zwinkels Treasurer 12

The fund has also covered payments for the website maintenance, admin, training, and interview costs.

We continue to apply for further funding through grant applications. We are grateful that St John’s Trust will continue supporting Confide for an additional three years.

We carry professional risk insurance for 21 professionals with a £2 million indemnity limit for any one event. The cover has increased to 24 professionals as of February 2025.

The management of the website includes regular changes, reporting and security updates and certification.

We are members of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, registered with ICO and with Thirty-one: eight for Safeguarding and DBS checks.

At the time of printing, the 2024 accounts are in the process of being independently examined by R. Smith, and we thank him for his time and commitment to doing so.

The following graph shows the difference between income and cost/session.

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Income v Cost / Session
Ave Income / session Ave Cost / session
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
36.47
32.65
26.63
17.96 17.41
15.97
13.19 8.82 10.82 11.10 13.43 14.14
----- End of picture text -----

Stonepillow clients who wish to have counselling are then carefully allocated to Confide counsellors by their supervisors, based on their training and experience. Not every client assessed for counselling will take up the offer of sessions, or continue with them once starting with a counsellor, as clients can disengage from the Stonepillow support service for various reasons. However, half of the clients supported last year attended more than 15 sessions, and client feedback has been received about how helpful it is to be offered a space to talk and be listened to, often for the first time.

As part of working together we have arranged online meetings with the Stonepillow team to ensure closer alignment in delivering a service that is helpful to the clients with their particular needs. We are grateful that we are able to work closely with Rachel, Hadley & Pete and for their hard work in enabling this service to be provided.

Alison also continues to meet with Rachel monthly and discuss issues which are arising for her. These discussions are often about the training she delivers to staff and some of the issues which arise from many staff being on short term contracts and how that affects the length of time people spend working for Stonepillow and the need to ensure that new staff are trained so that they can work safely with Stonepillow clients who often have significant physical and mental health needs.

Last year we also continued to provide short-term crisis counselling support to Stonepillow staff to help support them in their work with this often-challenging client group.

Alison Green/Sally Knight

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11

Service Administration Report 2024

In 2024, the team continued to have regular meetings, in addition to the Trustee & Management meetings.

Treasurers Report

9

All trainee counsellors and recently qualified counsellors received their Confide contracts, and all DBS checks are up to date. For DBS check purposes, trainee counsellors are no longer seen as volunteers. It is deemed that the position is there to work towards a paid position and to enhance their qualifications. Charges to obtain DBS details for Confide for students in‘24 were £48.90 (+VAT).

Confide does accept DBS certificates applied for by other organisations, provided they relate to the Adult Workforce.

In response to the BACP/Training organisation's requirement to provide some Online/Telephone sessions (up to 49%) to clients, counsellors will now record the mode of sessions on the Monthly Client receipt form.

Sally has had some conversations with Sanctuary in Chichester. Following some staff changes at Sanctuary, Sally would have liked to re-establish the links in 2025. However, Sanctuary have expanded its support from Mind for the future, and therefore, Confide will not pursue this until circumstances change.

The website has been regularly updated with

I would like to thank the Trustees – especially Richard More, Mary Ashwin,

Margaret Hambrook – and Hazel Denman, Lesley Bennett, Sally Knight and the counsellors for their support.

Tineke Zwinkels

Finance Report 2024

Details in the Financial report and stated below relate solely to the Income and Expenditure transactions in 2024.

In 2024, the client contributions were £ 10795.60, an increase of nearly

£1914. The contribution breakdown is as follows: 82% of clients pay up to

£15 per session. 9% pay £20 per session and 9% pay £25 per session.

Stonepillow's contributions towards the intake assessments and supervision work were £ 7537.50.

We received donations from St John’s Trust £3600.00, the Solent Group £1693.67, and from others £2665.00. We thank all who have supported Confide in the last year.

The overall income rose from £ 21144 to £27562, an increase of £6418. Our

expenditure increased from £ 20925.71 to £27115.79.

It is important to note that all expenditures relating to the activities in 2024 were paid by 31[st] December 2024. The increased team of counsellors is

reflected in the supervision and room hire expenditure.

Administration costs include £500 regarding the 2023 honorarium contribution allocated to the Service Administrator.

The overall result is that we have a small gain of £ 445.98. Without the generous donations mentioned before, Confide's financial situation would be considerably worse.

The Designated Fund at the end of 2024 stands at £7728.63. The fund, with regular contributions from St John’s Trust, supports clients who are unable to pay for sessions and covers unpaid sessions for various reasons. In 2024, 70 sessions were paid through the Designated fund.

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Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Confde

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Confide for the period ending 31 December 2024

Responsibilites and basis of report

As the charity trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the

accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section

145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have been guided by

applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the

Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination of the accounts. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

  1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of

the Act; or

  1. the accounts do not accord with those records.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the

examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a

proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Roderick Smith

35 Somerstown

Chichester

PO19 6AG