## **The East Anglian Psychotherapy Network Annual Report 2024-25** ## **Objectives and Activities.** As a Charitable Incorporated Organisation the object of the East Anglian Psychotherapy Network (EAPN) is to support the prevention and alleviation through psychotherapy of mental ill-health throughout the East Anglian region, especially in areas of disadvantage. Our members offer regulated therapeutic treatment and counselling for members of the public suffering from mental illness, trauma, and distress. The Trustees of the East Anglian Psychotherapy Network meet six times a year and are mindful of the primary founding public benefit objectives of the Network and their observance in accordance with the guidance issued by the Charity Commission. The Public Benefit purpose of the East Anglian Psychotherapy Network is reaffirmed in all of our Trustee meetings and informs all aspects of the Network’s activities.. We do this within the area of East Anglia by offering: - a) support to individuals, mental health organisations and training bodies in East Anglia - b) continuing education and professional development of psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapists, counsellors, and allied professionals. - c) support for practitioners working in areas of deprivation and/or geographic isolation All members of the East Anglian Psychotherapy Network understand that they are joining a community of appropriately qualified and regulated professionals who are committed to increasing the accessibility and provision of psychotherapy in East Anglia. ## **Membership of the East Anglian Psychotherapy Network** is available to suitably qualified health care professionals on application. We are clear that all members must be accredited members of a nationally regulated psychotherapy body e.g. UKCP, BACP, ACP , HPC, BPC – or must be working towards full training and accreditation by such a regulated body. The Network function of the EAPN is intended to support best practice and to facilitate continued learning and development through peer group activities , discussions and supervision at local and regional levels. In particular, the Network endeavours to support and enable the provision of high quality mental health care for isolated or deprived communities across the wide areas of rural East Anglia and its towns and cities . Such health provision has in the past been notably sparse in this region. ## **Main activities** Members of the East Anglian Psychotherapy Network are expected to be actively providing psychotherapeutic services that support the mental health of individuals , families and communities in the region and to be qualified and professionally registered to provide such services to the highest standard of care. Supervision of practice is mandatory. The Network brings together a very wide range of specialist experience in the field of mental health and illness – from the fields of psychiatry, clinical psychology, music therapy and psychoanalytic therapies for adults, children, adolescents, families and groups – crossfertilising and enriching the quality of expertise available to work for the well-being of our communities in East Anglia. Through the year the EAPN organises seminars, workshops and a bi-annual Conference where nationally recognised leaders in psychotherapy and psychosocial fields lead discussion on important aspects of mental ill-health and distress, thereby reinforcing principles of best practice and furthering the public benefit aims of the Network ~~..~~ Attendance at the above activities is not necessarily limited to psychotherapy professionals but may be open to people working in related professions such as education, social work, medicine and nursing as well as to members of the public. Several of the members of the EAPN Planning Group are actively involved in supporting specific East Anglian-based organisations that provide psychotherapy and training in areas of deprivation or geographic isolation in the region. Other EAPN members occupy senior positions and provide leadership in the training of aspiring psychotherapists and counsellors in the four counties of East Anglia . Every member of the East Anglian Psychotherapy Network receives a bi-monthly Newsletter that ensures that the membership as a whole is fully acquainted with – and free to comment on - policy decisions and projects initiated by the EAPN Planning Group and Trustees . and draws attention to any educational events scheduled to take place in the region and to opportunities for learning and inclusion in peer group activities in their locality. Through the Newsletter, individual mental health practitioners can get to know of colleagues in their immediate locality – especially useful if they are new to the area or live in a relatively remote part of East Anglia – and can identify and refer to specialist colleagues should they wish to access further professional advice or support. Trainee therapists can use the Network to find an experienced colleague for supervision of their work – as indeed can qualified psychotherapists all of whom are required to be in ongoing regular contact with a supervisor for as long as they practice clinical work. Through these measures, the EAPN Newsletter promotes a culture of lifelong learning , responsible professional supervision and , most importantly , provides a safeguard against professional isolation or stagnation. In these ways, the East Anglian Psychotherapy Network has come to embody a healthy culture of professional co-operation, responsibility , and growth that ensures the safety and public benefit for the communities we serve. ## **Contributions made by Volunteers** All six Trustees plus six non-Trustee members of the EAPN Planning Group give their time voluntarily to the running and development of the East Anglian Psychotherapy Network as a Charitable incorporated Organisation. Much time is given voluntarily to the planning and execution of learning events such as peer reading or supervision groups or bigger conferences, and to the circulation regularly of the Newsletter. ## **Achievements and Performance** The East Anglian Psychotherapy Network was founded in 2018 and was recognised as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, registered with the Charity Commission, in March 2023. As such, it is still a fairly young charitable organisation. Since its inauguration membership of the EAPN has grown year by year. In March 2025 , the EAPN has 248 members providing psychotherapeutic treatment in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex. The membership continues to increase , even as some older members retire. Especially by providing experienced supervision, the EAPN as an organisation has made substantial contributions to the training by related organisations of a new generation of future counsellors and psychotherapists in the region . The EAPN has initiated several inclusive educational events focussing on specific areas of mental health where dedicated training could substantially improve the delivery of good care to sufferers of psychological illness. They included two interactive workshops on Psychosomatic disorders (in July and August 2023) and a major Conference on the treatment of psychological Trauma (in October 2023). In spring 2024 , the EAPN hosted an important webinar on the climate crisis, signals for which are already evident in the coastal areas of East Anglia and in its changing weather patterns. As lead speaker , we were pleased to welcome Professor Paul Hoggett , psychoanalyst and co-founder of The Climate Psychology Alliance and Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at the University of the West of England. His wide-ranging talk highlighted, in particular the growing climate-related social anxieties and distress that are evident in our communities and increasingly present in medical and psychotherapy consulting rooms. His powerful book , _Paradise Lost? The Climate Crisis and the Human Condition_ drew attention to the emerging movements that are increasingly needed in order to respond to and contain this growing ‘climate distress. At the time of writing, a further Conference - exploring psychological and psychosocial aspects of ‘play’ throughout the lifespan - is currently drawing interest from across the region and beyond and will take place in Norwich in November 2025. As with earlier Conferences, the forthcoming conference ‘ _**Recovering Play’**_ has attracted delegates from all spheres of life, not solely from our psychotherapy Network members. In November 2024 , a wide-ranging **Membership Survey** highlighted much valuable information on the priorities that EAPN Members identified to enhance the Public Benefit aims and efficacy of the Network. The Survey reinforced a widespread desire among members to participate actively in ongoing professional development including the promotion of specifically local peer group meetings embedded in their communities. The Survey also strongly supported the introduction of a modest Membership subscription “to allow the EAPN to thrive and endure as as a Charity for the public benefit.” In response to the findings of the 2024 Membership Survey, the EAPN Planning Group has devoted much energy into encouraging and fostering the development of local peer groups (for example, reading and supervision groups ) to consolidate and maintain the highest standards of clinical practice that can be made available to people in those localities. During 2024-25 new peer groups were established and thrived in North Norfolk and in rural Suffolk, where options for people seeking psychotherapy had previously been limited. EAPN members also provided much dedicated support to the very important teaching programme run by the well established Catalyst Counselling and Training service in Lowestoft which serves a population with significant areas of social deprivation. Throughout the year , great effort has been directed at generating similar levels of support to some of the other ‘harder to reach’ areas of East Anglia – an initiative which continues. The other main achievement for the EAPN has been the recruitment of several new members to its Planning Group (and potential Trusteeship), thereby greatly strengthening our human resources and our capacity for succession. The EAPN can thus be confident of enduring for the next generation which we regard as a substantial public benefit for the provision of mental health care to communities in East Anglia. ## **Financial Review** ## **Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of 2024 - 25.** **(** _**see attached Accountant’s report from ClearTax & Accounting Ltd)**_ **Gross Income : £ 480 Gross expenditure: £ 879** ## **Net financial loss for the year : £ 399.00** ## **Capital account at 31[st] March 2025 : £ 1,476** ## **Amount of reserves held: £1,476** Capital reserves are held primarily to ensure that funding is available for future conferencing events in the year 2025-26 and for necessary IT and website technical support and annual Data Protection subscription . Capital reserves throughout the year 1[st] April 2024 – 31[st] March 2025 did not exceed £1500 and this largely precluded funding of a major conference such as we had held in the previous year . However, this enabled a period of respite during which energies were directed to smaller more affordable local events and the development of local peer groups which have thrived. Supported by the responses to the EAPN Members’ survey , the Trustees and Planning Group unanimously approved the introduction of an annual subscription , though this will not be introduced until September 2025. . ## **The charity’s principal sources of funding.** Hitherto the sole source of funding has been from booking fees for attendance at educational events. However, the introduction of **an annual subscription** for membership – due to be introduced in September 2025 – will greatly enhance the EAPN’s financial position and will enable significant investment in activities beneficial to the well being of the communities that the EAPN seeks to serve. ## **Structure, Governance and Management** The Constitution of the East Anglian Psychotherapy Network as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation adheres in every respect to the Charity Commission’s model constitution for a CIO. ## **Trustee selection and appointment** Trustees are proposed on the recommendation of senior mental health professionals with well-established membership of the East Anglian Psychotherapy Network. Confirmation of their appointment as a Trustee requires a resolution at a properly convened meeting of the existing Trustees. Information for prospective Trustees is conveyed in person and in writing by a current Trustee as authorised by the Trustee body as a whole and before the new Trustee appointment is confirmed by a resolution of a properly convened meeting of the existing charity Trustees. Corporate trustees – names of the directors at the date the report was approved |**Director name**|none|| |---|---|---| |||| |Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity||| |**Trustee name**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year**|none| ## **Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others** None ## **Declarations** **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.** **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees** **Signature(s) Full name(s)** Dr Timothy David Castley Fox **Position (eg Secretary,** Treasurer and Co-administrator **Chair, etc) Date** 21st November 2025 ## **EAPN Financial Report 2024 - 2025** ## **Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of 2024 - 25.** **(** _**see accompanying Accountant’s report from ClearTax & Accounting Ltd)**_ ## **Gross Income : £ 480** **Gross expenditure: £ 879** ## **Net financial loss for the year : £ 399.00** **Capital account at 31[st] March 2025 : £ 1,476** ## **Amount of reserves held: £1,476** Capital reserves are held primarily to ensure that funding is available for future conferencing events in the year 2025-26 and for necessary IT and website technical support and annual Data Protection subscription . Capital reserves throughout the year 1[st] April 2024 – 31[st] March 2025 did not exceed £1500 and this largely precluded funding of a major conference such as we had held in the previous year . However, this enabled a period of respite during which energies were directed to smaller more affordable local events and the development of local peer groups which have thrived. Supported by the responses to the EAPN Members’ survey , the Trustees and Planning Group unanimously approved the introduction of an annual subscription , though this will not be introduced until September 2025. DR Timothy D.C.Fox (Treasurer)