Women's Health Advice Centre Annual Report 2010

26th Annual Report

2010 Ashington’s answer to the Tardis Modest outside, but great inside

In memory of Jean Hedley 1941-2010 Jean first became a trustee of WHAC in 2006 but unfortunately due to illhealth she had to stand down in 2008. Jean’s strength and determination allowed her to return in 2009 whereby she greatly contributed to the board of trustees. Despite her personal battle she played a huge part in WHAC’s residentials accompanied by her husband and carer, Gordon – Jean’s “handsome prince”. It was with great sadness that we learned of her death on 25th June 2010. Jean will always be remembered for her courage and strength by all at WHAC.

“Jean was an incredibly special woman, who always conducted herself with compassion, integrity and grace. She gave herself freely to people who could benefit from her knowledge, expertise and wisdom. As a WHAC Board member, she was supportive and informative and participated enthusiastically, despite her health problems and well into retirement. Everyone at WHAC is grateful for the time and energy she devoted to us and she will always be remembered with great fondness, affection and appreciation.”

Chairperson’s Report

WHAC continues to move forward from strength to strength in this difficult and challenging economic climate and has dealt with 4,695 clients.

This year we have joined in partnership with three other organisations and developed the SWAN (Supporting Women around Northumberland) Project. The project supports women who have or are at risk of offending and a new staff member joined the WHAC team to work into SWAN. We have successfully run a number of courses on employability this year as well as our regular courses like Tai Chi, Relaxation and Creative Writing. We have also run some of our courses in Seaton Valley.

There have been 123 new clients accessing counselling and assessment sessions with 730 attendances at appointments. We have recently trained and recruited volunteer counsellors enabling us to take more referrals.

This year has also seen WHAC achieve a number of awards: • • • •

Matrix Standard Award for the delivery of our services both internal (staff) and external (clients) Service User Involvement Award Approved centre for NCFE allowing us to run accredited training courses Also our creative writing course was acclaimed as outstanding by the WEA assessor

WHAC has a number of volunteers delivering a variety of services including the Board of Trustees, It was with great sadness that we learnt of the death of our Vice Chair Jean Hedley, she will be missed by all.

WHAC is changing with the years but still remains true to its core beliefs and mission statement.

Pauline Fraser Chairperson

Mission Statement WHAC:Aims to provide women in Northumberland with free quality counselling, personal development, education and information on issues contributing to their general health and well-being.

Offers a confidential service in a safe, supportive relationship.

Is a needs led independent organisation which aims to offer a a flexible and comprehensive service Uses quality personnel consisting of trained volunteers, 3 full-time staff: Manager, Volunteer Co-ordinator, Finance/Quality Assurance Officer, and 3 part-time staff; Project Administrator, Training & Education Officer, Cleaner, and a Health Trainer who is employed

by Northumberland Care Trust, as well as supervisors and trainers.

Aims To encourage women to take responsibility for their own physical, emotional and social well-being and to help them develop a positive attitude.

To respond to the needs of women and girls aged 14+.

To be supplementary and complementary to the services provided by the Health and Social Services.

To increase knowledge and confidence through information, workshops, courses and self-help groups.

“How lucky Ashington is to have WHAC�

Contents Attendance Overview................................................................................. 1 Some of Our Achievements.................................................................... 2 Staff Members................................................................................................ 3 Trustees and Volunteers......................................................................... 4 Volunteers........................................................................................................ 5 Counselling..................................................................................................... 6 Graph showing the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Health & Well Being Scale....................................................................................... 7 Issues dealt with in Counselling.......................................................... 8 Courses and Workshops.......................................................................... 9 Support and Advice Services................................................................ 10 Health Promotion........................................................................................ 11 Supporting Women around Northumberland (SWAN).......... 12 Collaborative Working.............................................................................. 13 Working Together....................................................................................... 14 Acknowledgements..................................................................................... 15 Financial Report.......................................................................................... 16 Accounts............................................................................................................ 17

Attendance Overview 01/04/09 – 31/03/10 Counselling & Assessment Sessions

123

No of Attendances 730

Information & Advice

373

574

18

178

139

258

3,814

4,768

228

726

4,695

7,234

Support & Relaxation Groups One to one sessions Telephone/email Info & Advice Course Enrolments TOTAL TIMES CENTRE USED

No of Clients

• 18 volunteers did over 1440 hours of work during the year.

This does not include attendance at all meetings and training.

• The number of clients in the counselling and assessment sessions are only new clients and don’t reflect any that may be seen over a long period.

• We have not got figures for the SWAN project as it only commenced early this year, they will available in next year’s report.

“Being able to talk openly about problems, feelings, guilt and anxieties with someone who listened, was not judgemental was a great relief and helped regain my confidence.”

“I was in relaxed surroundings and felt able to speak easily about my feelings”

Some of Our Achievements

We have recently undergone assessment for the Matrix Standard Award. This is a nationally recognised standard for the delivery of our services.

WHAC achieved the standard for both internal services to staff and external services to clients. Although we do not yet have the official certificates we feel it is a great achievement and should be shared.

WHAC is now an Approved Centre for the NCFE (Northern Council for Further Education) which allows us to deliver accredited training courses. In addition WHAC Volunteer Counsellor’s Training course has been accredited also by NCFE so our counsellors can now enjoy a recognised qualification as a result of their training.

In December 2009 we were presented with a ‘Service User Involvement’ award at the Women’s Mental Health Conference.

Thanks to funding from the Ministry of Justice we employed a new staff member – Lorraine – as our SWAN Project Worker.

Supporting Women Around Northumberland is a joint venture with 3 other organisations to support women who have, or are at risk of offending.

•

WHAC’s Volunteer Counsellor’s training course received excellent feedback from the internal verifier... “They were unanimously full of praise for the tutors, who, as one participant expressed it, “had demonstrated support all the way through”. Learners felt respected and valued throughout the process. As a result they felt confident and well prepared to begin their work as WHAC counsellors.”

•

WHAC’s Creative Writing class was visited by the WEA assessor to quality assure the course. We received notification from her that she viewed it as “outstanding”.

•

WHAC put together a new set of employment based courses for the summer which is gradually attracting greater numbers and gaining good feedback... “- this course has given me a bit more confidence than I had before, it provided good advice I never knew about.”

Staff Members

Cath Carnaby

Manager

Linda-Jaine Clair

Volunteer Co-ordinator

Judith Pleasance

Finance & Quality Assurance Officer

Dianne Keetch

Education & Training Officer

Jen Anderson

Administrator

Lorraine Burley

SWAN Project Worker

Jemma McIntyre

Cleaner

Sharon Hepplewhite

Health Trainer (employed by Northumberland Care Trust)

Cath

Linda

Judith

“All staff were very welcoming and nonjudgemental. Very understanding counsellor and staff went out of their way to help and support me”

Jen

Dianne

Lorraine

Sharon

“I would like to thank the staff for the excellent service you provide. You were my strength at a time when I felt desperate and alienated”

Trustees and Volunteers Board of Trustees Chair Vice Chair Treasurer Secretaries

Pauline Fraser Jean Hedley *(Deceased) Mandy Small Sarah Kerrigan/Lisa Jenkinson

General Board Members Declan Baharini Alison Flaherty Maureen Sanderson

Sarah Abernethy Lisa Purvis

Volunteers Laura Adams× Lucy Driver Pru Heathcote Lynne Macrae Marie Stirzaker Ann Cossar Christine Carruthers* Jayne Hedley* Brenda Potts* Sangeeta Murkunde*

Lorraine Douglass Natalie Freeman× Janet Hooper× Alexandra Lowerson× Elsie Townley Angharad Watson× Fiona Damm* Deborah Heron* Claudia Venosa* Emma Julian*

Gayle Brown Ann Goff Audrey Lenthall Jennie Robson Bernie Caswell Dee Clark× Elaine Finlay* Ingrid Pitt* Ruth Chapman* Adrienne Brooks*

Joined since last AGM * Left since last AGM ×

“I was a volunteer with WHAC many years ago, that little house with a big heart will always have a special place with me. I often look at the web site to see what’s going on. Looks like it’s gone from strength to strength. Just wanted to say hello and it’s great to see you doing such great things still. You will never know the good you and all in that house did for me.”

Volunteers Volunteers are a very important valuable, integral part of WHAC. They provide several different services and come from all walks of life. They are supported by paid staff and have overall responsibility for the management of the Organisation via The Board of Trustees.

We currently have a team of 33 Volunteers, which are made up of – 9 Trustees

14 Counsellors

6 SAS

4 Psychotherapists

Trustees WHAC is extremely fortunate in that it has a strong Board of Trustees. This is a vital asset and underpins the work of Staff and Volunteers.

Training During the year Volunteers have taken part in training/workshops which have included ‘Developing Well Being At Work’, ‘Anger Therapy’, a 2 day residential looking at ‘Monitoring and Evaluation’.

This year new Volunteer Counsellors have completed a 6 week NCFE Accredited Training Course.

Support Volunteers The work of Support Volunteers includes administration, one to one client work and group work.

Volunteers attend training relevant to their role and they are supervised by the Volunteer Co-ordinator.

Counsellors WHAC currently has a team of 15 Counsellors and 4 psychotherapy students. 6 Counsellors are working towards their Foundation Degree. All WHAC Counsellors bring with them a unique depth of life experience, knowledge and skills.

We would like to say a huge thank you to all of our Volunteers who generously give of their time and are hugely committed to the centre.

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the centre on 01670 853977.

Counselling WHAC offers a free one to one confidential counselling service to women and girls 14+, which is delivered by qualified volunteer counsellors. WHAC has organisational membership to the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy and are bound by its code of ethics. 730 sessions were carried out this year.

WHAC successfully obtained accreditation through the NCFE for its counselling training. This acknowledges the stringent commitment and hard work volunteers have to adhere to when training as a volunteer counsellor at WHAC. We are also fortunate to work with the Northern Guild of Psychotherapists, providing placements for psychotherapy students. This greatly enhances the service we are able to offer clients.

“I could open up and talk about everything that was troubling me without being judged. It felt good to talk and work things out. Made me a stronger person and I could see the benefits after a week or two.”

“The help I received was instrumental in addressing some very difficult issues.

The ethos of WHAC and its method of operation in being open to all in need and accessible regardless of personal circumstances is impressive.”

Client experience We use a range of evaluation methods to ensure that the service provided meets the needs of clients. As well as measuring the improvement in client’s health and well being they are also asked their opinion on the counselling process.

A report is produced annually using the feedback we receive. Copies are available at the Centre or on line at www.whaconline.co.uk/publications counsellors also have a yearly review where aspects of the service can be discussed.

“Is a very comfortable, calm place to be where you are not told what to do or say, but are listened too and the counsellor is not judgemental in anyway.”

Warwick Edinburgh Mental Health and Well Being Scale

Results of a measure used for clients attending counselling sessions at WHAC. A low score indicates poor mental health and well being. An average score for most people not suffering from poor mental health is around 51.

“Invaluable in helping me to come to terms with events beyond my control. Stopped me from blaming myself and find closure and be able to move forward with new skills to help me with the pressures of life.”

“Much better self awareness and better coping strategies suggested. The whole process of being able to discuss things on a one to one was beneficial and helped me more than I expected.”

“Thank you.

This was one of the most helpful learning experiences of my life. I will never forget how you helped me.”

Issues dealt with in Counselling 2009-10 All clients referred for counselling have an assessment interview. This enables the counsellor to get an overall picture of the client’s situation and to identify her main issues. There were 123 assessments carried out with new clients, during the year and the graph illustrates the number of times particular problems/issues were presented at the assessment appointment.

KEY 1. Women’s Health Issues e.g. Menopause/PMT/Infertility 2. Physical Health Problems e.g. STD’s/Mastectomy 3. Mental Health e.g. Stress/Depression 4. Abortion 5. Bereavement/Loss 6. Relationship Problems e.g. Sexual Issues/Families/Relationship Breakdown 7. Drug /Alcohol Issues 8. Caring Responsibilities 9. Rape/Sexual Assault including Harassment 10. Child Sexual Abuse 11. Domestic Violence – Physical Violence/Bullying 12. Relatives/Carers affected by abuse/trauma 13. Self Esteem/Body Image 14. Work Related Issues 15. Suicidal 16. Financial 17. Anger Management 18. Eating Disorders 19. Life Stages/Choices

Courses and Workshops •

During this financial year WHAC has run 15 courses for clients including new courses in Arts and Crafts, Life Coaching and Managing Stress as well as the popular courses in self development, confidence building, relaxation, creative writing and many more.

•

We have used the business and coaching training services of a new tutor, Dorothy Childs, who used to run ‘Eve’ the women’s business network in Northumberland.

Dorothy said ‘I was particularly pleased that one lady indicated the coaching session had had a profound effect on her and another was motivated to go and start out again.’

•

We have regained the input of Sue Saunders who provided self development and training for WHAC a few years ago. Sue is running managing stress, goal setting and personal development training on our behalf.

Sue reported that there was ‘Good group bonding, they were able to share personal problems with each other.’ on her It’s My Life Course.

•

We continue to work with the WEA on delivering the Creative writing Course and the inspector gave us an excellent report A WEA assessor visited the class to observe and gave us an ‘Outstanding ‘ assessment.

•

We tried out three taster courses, the life coaching and self discovery courses received such good feedback that it was decided we should run them as full courses.

One participant commented that the Self Discovery course ‘helped me to be specific, positive, motivated’, and said it ‘profoundly worked to help me’

•

WHAC is facilitating a project funded by the Community FoundationFairshare fund in Seaton Valley. The aim is to run health promotion courses and one to one services in 4 community centres. This work is well under way and due to be completed in Jan 2011. WHAC’s tutors, counsellors and 1:1 advisors will be invited to contribute to each programme.

•

The Education and Training Officer designed and delivered a Suicide Awareness course in Ashington, in partnership with ‘Escape’, which received very good feedback.

Most participants scored the trainers, programme, handouts, learning opportunities, and venue very highly. Most also found the course very relevant to their work roles. The participants were positive about the information provided and the group work activities. One person wrote – the course was ‘very informative and thought provoking, thank you.’

Support and Advice Services The number of clients using this service continues to grow and has led to WHAC working with many outside agencies including The Official Receivers Office, Housing and Council Tax Benefit Office, Private Landlords and other support agencies.

Partnership 1-1 Support Some of our support services are Delivered by volunteers who meet with clients who do not need formal counselling but do need the support of a ‘friend’. Clients who have had counselling can often need continued support when their sessions end.

delivered in partnership with DAWN (Advice) Ltd and provides face-to-face support for people seeking help with financial, benefit, housing, employment and family law issues.

Family Law

Debt Although DAWN are now able to meet clients face to face at WHAC to complement their telephone advice service, our Staff and Volunteers continue to support and help clients through what can be a very difficult time.

We can help to complete financial forms, liaise with other organisations, accompany clients to court, banks, solicitors etc. We are currently working with 12 clients.

We continue to help clients to access the Family Law Advice section of DAWN (Advice) Ltd. During the last year 25 clients have benefitted from this invaluable service.

Welfare Benefits Staff from DAWN (Advice) Ltd meet with clients at WHAC to advise them of their entitlement to benefits and also guide them through the process of claiming and appealing where necessary.

Clients are supported throughout the process by volunteers and staff from WHAC.

Health Promotion

Fairshare Project in Seaton Valley WHAC was successful in a bid to the Community Foundation to manage a Fairshare Health Promotion programme in Seaton Valley proposed by BVCVA. The project began in March 2010 with a series of meetings with each community centre committee to agree the way forward and consult with community members to develop the health promotion programmes.

WHAC is at present looking for new volunteers for each community centre as part of the package and undertaking the extensive administration needed to promote the 4 health promotion programmes.

Health People Healthy Business Award We were presented with the Northumberland Healthy People Healthy Business Award & Public Health North East Better Health Silver Award in December 2009.

The Assessor commented: “WHAC wanted to work towards the silver award to tie in with their silver anniversary celebrations. They have certainly made an excellent effort, providing ample evidence for all the criteria required.

The Health Advocates should be congratulated for their hard work, innovation and commitment. As all criteria have been met, we are delighted to confirm that the Women’s Health Advice Centre have achieved the Silver Level for both the Northumberland Healthy People Healthy Business and North East Better Health at Work Awards.

Well done and congratulations on twenty five years of excellent service to women!”

Supporting Women Around Northumberland (SWAN)

WHAC is currently working in partnership with Escape, Fourth Action, and Relate, the partnership is known as SWAN. Together the agencies work with women who have the potential to offend or re-offend.

The Swan project works across Northumberland bringing support to women and in particular we aim to reach the women living in rural areas who have difficulties accessing services.

SWAN identifies the vulnerabilities within the women engaging in the service and can offer support and advice on many issues.

Lorraine Burley is currently working for WHAC as a Project Worker /Counsellor for the Swan Project. Her role involves offering 1-2-1- counselling sessions to the women who access the service.

She collaborates with the Swan intervention workers and together they help and support the clients. Clients can also access the services that WHAC has to offer this includes: a variety of courses or a referral to one of the many agencies that WHAC works in partnership with.

The SWAN Project offers a flexible service which allows counselling sessions that fit around the lives of the women.

“Very good helped to form better relationships and bring problems to the surface, where I could deal with them successfully”

“It helped me to regain my confidence and identify my strong points”

Collaborative Working WHAC provides representation on a number of steering groups and local initiatives they include: • • • • • • • • • •

Community Health Voice South East Northumberland Health Improvement Group (SENHIG) Northumberland Mental Health Promotion Steering Group Northumberland Volunteer & Community Sector Consortium (NVCSC) Northumbria Health Care Trust (representing NVCSC) Health & Well Being Sector Board (representing NVCSC) Ashington Credit Union Vision Group Northumberland Employment & Work Service SWAN project

Other Partnerships We continue to work successfully with DAWN (Advice) providing clients with an even wider range of services.

The counselling service links to a variety of outside partners: • NCFE • GRACE • Northern Guild of Psychotherapists • Safer Communities WHAC’s education service also works closely with external partners: • WEA • Health Trainers • Freelance Tutors • Real Food Works • Blyth Valley Community & Voluntary Action

Working Together WHAC has always recognised the importance of involving as many people as possible in future planning for the organisation. We do this by organising away days and residentials that are attended by paid staff, trustees and volunteers.

A residential was organised earlier in the year to bring together paid staff, trustees and volunteers; to look at ways of increasing the understanding of why we need to record particular information. We also wanted to ensure that everyone had input into the marketing strategy and that they could see where an individual’s contribution can help make it successful. The main objectives were: • That everyone has an understanding of the targets and deadlines we have to work to • Participants have an understanding of why we require particular information (e.g. form filling) • That there is the opportunity for everyone to suggest improved communications in all aspects of WHAC management • Participants have input into WHAC’s marketing strategy • Understanding of individual’s roles in promoting WHAC

‘Brilliant way of getting to know people, good fun and learning too!

Great stuff!’

‘A fun, productive weekend, allowing team to bond and align values’ ‘Another fantastic weekend, enjoyed the opportunity to involve so many people in planning in a fun way’

Acknowledgements

WHAC would like to thank the following for Financial Contributions Northumberland Care Trust Big Lottery Fund Northumberland County Council Working Neighbourhoods Fund Wansbeck Worker’s Education Association Ministry of Justice Community Foundation MHNE Concordia Project Prime Foundation Individual Donations

We also thank all other partners and organisations we have worked with during the year for their support

“Very good knowing I could open up to someone.”

“I am very grateful for the help and support I received from the WHAC team. Everyone greeted you with a smile and a friendly face. You never felt at unease when you went. They are a great team and are doing a great job.”

Financial Report Thanks to the continued financial support from The Working Neighbourhoods Fund, The Big Lottery and the Care Trust we have enjoyed a second year of financial stability allowing us to build up our reserves once again.

However, continued hard work is needed to keep funding at a level that ensures WHAC’s survival.

Our Gross Income for 2009/2010 was £164,632 with costs of £140,008. At the Year End £86,879 was carried forward. Of this £40,261 is already committed to existing and future services.

WHAC would need to raise substantial additional funding if it were not for the commitment and contribution of our volunteers. The cost of providing our services during 2009-10, based on ‘Full Cost Recovery’ is shown below using the number of counselling sessions and volunteer hours during the year.

No of Hours Based On Counselling Sessions Volunteer Hours

730

Cost for Year £70 per hour £51,100

714

£20 per hour

£14,280

Finally, on behalf of WHAC Ltd Board of Trustees, we would like to thank all those who have provided their time, financial assistance and donations to the Project.

Mandy Small Treasurer

Judith Hart Finance Worker

1, Council Road Ashington Northumberland NE63 8RZ Tel: 01670 853977 Fax: 01670 858984 www.whac-online.co.uk E-mail: admin@whac.uk.com Opening Hours Monday-Thursday 9.00am-5.00pm Friday 9.00am-4.30pm Evening and weekends by appointment only

Company No: 5987640

Charity No: 1119121