17/10/2024
The What? Centre is a mental health, wellbeing and counselling charity, which has helped thousands of children, young people and their families living in Dudley over the past 40 years. The centre strives to support children faced with difficulties which are affecting their mental health such as sexual and physical abuse, self harm, bereavement, depression, bullying and attachment issues and so much more. The staff at the centre endeavour to support its clients and go above and beyond to meet the needs of the young people who access the service. We have 2 centres, which are run on extremely low budgets. One of our centres is in much need of repair. We need your help to raise funding for the frontage of our building, and the windows, so we can continue our extremely important work for our community. Currently, our windows do not open, and in the summer months, the building becomes unbearably stuffy. In the winter, the broken and cracked window frames causes the building to become very cold. The cost to heat the building currently in the winter months takes up a considerable amount of expenditure which could instead be invested into delivering services to further support our young clients. The frontage is very dated, and also is in desperate need of repair. The new windows and frontage will improve the look of the Building from the outside and also the inside, but most importantly, will allow for our clients to be comfortable while accessing our support. If clients are uncomfortable during sessions, it may mean they can not fully concentrate and engage. Thankfully, we have the plans for the improvements approved a few years ago by Dudley Council, but we need to raise the means to action this. With your help in sharing our cause, and donating where you can, we hope to be able to action our plans for the improvements of the building, and therefore change our long term spending to more client focused work, rather than on heating bills.
We pride ourselves on the impact we have upon our clients; the growth our young people make during their time with us is extraordinary! Your help with donations will allow us to continue to deliver our much valued service.
What we'll deliver:
A building which enhances the street
A welcome and comfortable building for children and young people to access support
A better environment within the building, windows that open, reducing the transmissions of winter flu
As a result of heating costs but cut, increasing counselling sessions available, and therefore reducing waiting lists
Why it's a great idea:
Coventry Street is a picturesque street. There has been much money spent on its overall improvement but our building is lagging behind this. The community will see a safer, welcoming building which also conforms to planning laws for its minor listing. We feel that the improvements in the building will also help to enhance its appeal to others in the community who may wish to purchase counselling for themselves through our Social Enterprise, which in turn then funds the charitable work. We are experiencing vast increases in referrals of CYP, as shown in national research. So now, more than ever, we need to be able to stream our spending into supporting clients.
Hopefully, the improvements will help us to secure future contracts for working with children and young people which are currently funded through Black Country NHS Foundation Trust, who are also very supportive of our application. It is imperative that a building offering counselling and health and well-being services has to offer an environment whereby clean air is able to circulate through the building, resulting in a lower rate of transmission of illnesses. This will in turn help to reduce our carbon footprint.
Steps to get it done:
Finalising the plans
Liaising with the builders to order the windows
Get the frontage and the windows installed
Launch the updated Centre by inviting project supporters
We currently have full plans for the changes to the building. We have £1,000 in kind to add to this bid.
Children and young people who use our counselling and support services grow in confidence and self esteem whilst using our service. As a result, they are more likely to engage in the community, which in turn leads to improved quality of their family life. They feel more able to take part in leisure activities, which the family has previously not been able to do while they were going through such difficult times as a result of their child's mental health or breakdowns in family relationships. Our economy will also be boosted by people who are seeking private counselling, and the fee they pay goes towards helping the charitable aims of the charity.
Thank you for taking the time to read our plea, and we hope you are able to share this far and wide, and also contribute where you can.
The What? Centre counselling service for children, young people and families based in Stourbridge. Help us to improve the look of the building and make it comfy and warm, and then cool in the summer
