Winchester Round Table’s Generous Donation Boosts Youth Counselling Services

On April 25th, Winchester Youth Counselling was presented with a substantial donation of £8,000 by the Winchester Round Table. The charitable group, known for organising community events such as Pedal Paddle Pace, the annual bonfire, and the festive Santa sleigh, has chosen to support Winchester Youth Counselling this year using some of the funds they raise, with a focus on aiding the counselling initiatives for children and young people aged 11 – 25.

Joe Spencer, Chairman of the Round Table, emphasised the importance of mental health support and expressed his commitment to helping young people in the community. The funds will assist Winchester Youth Counselling in expanding its innovative outdoor therapy sessions, including individual walk and talk therapy and nature therapy groups.

Jill Guppy, the founder of Winchester Youth Counselling, expressed deep gratitude for the ongoing support from the Winchester Round Table. She highlighted how the donation would enable the charity to recruit additional counsellors and extend their services to rural areas, significantly impacting the wellbeing of young people across Winchester and said: “We do outdoor work with young people. We do individual walk and Talk therapy sessions and we’re looking to do more of that. We’re in the process of recruiting another Walk and Talk counsellor and we’re going to put on sessions in some of the rural areas of the district. We’re basing some of that in Alresford and the southern parishes.”

Jill further explained how the funding will be very useful to support the nature therapy group. The outdoor group caters to 11 to 16-year-olds, many of whom are autistic or identify as neurodiverse. Sessions are held weekly during the school term and it’s great to have the funding to support us running them. Jill said: “We’re extremely grateful to the Round Table because they have been very generous on numerous occasions with proceeds from the bonfire particularly. So to have this amount of money is really kind. It shows the real support from the community and without that the charity wouldn’t exist.”

This generous contribution shows the strong community spirit and dedication to improving mental health services for young individuals in our region.