Since setting up Counselling for Social Change in 2012 we have provided thousands of hours of counselling support to people across the UK. As well as supporting our local community in Cornwall we have worked with a variety of people involved in diverse causes from Extinction Rebellion, the Stansted 11 court case, Black Lives Matter, trans activists, animal rights and community activists.
We are constantly receiving amazing feedback from those accessing our service and it has clearly made a huge difference to many activists struggling with their mental health as a result of their activism:
“Massively appreciative of the work of @CounsellingSC and my Councillor journey who helped me after the intensity of the #fracking campaign at KM8 North #Yorkshire last year. In a much better place now - it would’ve been much tougher without their support!”
“I'm very grateful, that C4SC has made these [sessions] available to me.... I really can't express my deep gratitude both for the opportunity to access these sessions.... I now know I have the tools to keep myself mentally afloat while working and living as an activist. Thank you. It has meant a lot to me.”
And now, with the G7 on our doorsteps and Kill the Bill protests taking place across the country, we know we have to step up again and support as many people as we can as they take to the streets to make their diverse voices heard.
Our goal with this crowdfunder is to firstly offer Single Session Counselling support to people in the couple of weeks surrounding the G7 for people involved in opposing the G7 or Kill the Bill. Single Session 'drop-ins' with an experienced counsellor can be particularly beneficial to those needing to process actions or dealing with court cases and those involved with intensive organising work.
While one-at-a-time therapy will be enough to help many people process and move through what is currently facing them, for some people this will be not be enough and therefore our 'stretch-goal' is to raise more money to provide longer term therapy for those that need it and to provide future single session support around other events.