01268 284130
The Sophie Grierson Fund (SGF) was set up by Ray and Emma in late 2019 following the tragic loss of their beautiful daughter Sophie aged 19. The specific aim of the fund is: -
To quickly provide 12 sessions of counselling to very distressed 14-24 year-olds.
The SGF is managed by Basildon Mind, a local mental health charity, affiliated to the National Mind charity. Basildon Mind work across the Borough of Basildon, that is Basildon, Billericay, Wickford and surrounding areas. For the last 50 years, Basildon Mind has worked tirelessly to improve the mental health of its local community. Services include a telephone Helpline, Counselling, Supported Housing, Forensic Advocacy, Walking Groups, an Allotment and working in a number of NHS ‘111 Option 2’ services including a Crisis Sanctuary, Crisis Sanctuary House and Positive Pathways guidance.
Basildon Mind receives no state funding for its Counselling service. The charity is able to counsel children and adults with a range of mental health conditions such as anxiety, bereavement, bullying, depression, relationships, stress (in children these often result in not wanting to go to, or exclusion from school) and long-term mental health difficulties such as schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder. The ability to quickly provide counselling to severely distressed youngsters with complex conditions makes Basildon Mind unique in the Borough.
To date, 35 very distressed local young people have received around 250 1-hour counselling sessions paid for by the SGF. A further 15 people will receive 168 counselling sessions during 2023 and the same again during 2024. This would not be possible without the SGF. Almost £18,000 has been donated to this invaluable service and a further £11,600 is planned.
Basildon Mind’s Counselling evaluation data show SGF works: clients’ feelings about their General wellbeing’ increased from 3.4 to 6.2 out of 10. 92% rated “Felt Listened To” 10 out of 10 and 83% rated “Friendliness of Staff” and “Counselling Venue” 10 out of 10.
In terms of achieving their counselling goals, evaluation comments include “I feel more confident about the future”, “I’m looking to return to education”, “I’m feeling a lot better about myself and my boundaries” and “I've talked about things that I kept in for years”. These excellent outcomes are particularly important as sadly a number of SGF clients stated they felt suicidal or had previously attempted suicide before they started their counselling.
Please consider donating to help local people with their mental health. Thank you.