Platform for Life, founded in 2017 operate out of the Parade Enterprise Centre in Blacon. The charity offers counselling and play therapy to families, adults and young children living in relative poverty and experiencing mental health issues.

Ceri George CEO says the charity was set up to address mental health issues and the additional stresses for those in poverty. “The charity was set up to address this and to provide a service that is community based, easy to access and meets the client where they’re at rather than forcing them into a system that doesn’t work for them. We are in the community, we work in Matthew Henry Church in Blacon, all the schools, the children’s centre, the community centre in Lache “

Last year Platform for Life supported over 300 clients all of whom would otherwise have had to rely on NHS services. ” We are here for as long as they need us as opposed to the NHS model which is a short sharp low level intervention. ” says Ceri. “We take referrals from GPs, Health visitors and other statutory services including social services. Schools refer children and sometimes adults.” People can also self refer themselves or their child- with the option of an online or over the phone referral. The charity aim to make getting help as accessible and easy as possible.

The waiting time for therapy is currently 6- 12 weeks. “The first thing we do is contact clients by phone and have an initial chat about their availability and the service we offer and answer any questions. A lot of people haven’t had an experience of a therapy service before and if they have it might not have been a positive experience. We want to put people at ease and find out their needs and any support we can other. Therapy goes on for as long as the therapist and the client agree.

Once people are having therapy there is no time limit. “We recognise that a lot of the clients we’re working with have deep trauma, sometimes multi generational- so the statutory 6-8 sessions that people get offered isn’t really enough. Its open ended between the client and the counsellor. For some people 12 sessions might be enough or they might need less than that. We want to help people as early as possible, so another kind of difference with us and NHS services is that we don’t set a threshold. If somebody is referred by a GP, a school or a local agency we won’t refuse anyone who feels they need help with their mental health. ”

“The vast majority of our clients have got very complex mental health needs and need long term support. They need to be able to achieve healing which comes through time, and trust with the therapist. Trust is an issue and takes time to build. “

The charity have recently recruited a family support worker. ” The clients we work with have a lot of things going on in their lives so its harder for them to access services. Her role is to stand along clients and help them address practical issues: if they have issues with debt, housing or social isolation. We aren’t trying to duplicate other services, but offering introductions to other services that are available via face to face introductions. “

The majority of funding for the charity comes from Trusts and Foundations. “We don’t get any statutory funding from the NHS or the Council. They all refer into any service but they don’t provide any funding. The only funding we do get is from schools that we work with we have a partnership arrangement, we provide slots and the schools provide a quarter of the funding. For us to access other funding sources, potential funders won’t support activities which they think should be paid for by statutory services.

“I haven’t come across another service in Cheshire West that does we do. I think its the accessibility and taking away all the barriers to getting help. The reality is that we are not a crisis service, but the problem is the lack of other service available so we are seeing people who are that point. Its about providing a really good quality of service the same as if you’d paid for it.

“There are services that use students and obviously that’s very cost effective. Where a client has complex mental health needs its not fair on the student or the client for them to be given therapy this way. ” Platform for Life have 11 employees with 9 of them being front facing workers- therapists, a client coordinator and a family support worker.

“All our therapists are fully qualified and experienced. We have a lot of clients where it goes on to be quite life changing. We’ve got children returning to school and parents returning to work. We have adults who end up going back to work after a long period. We’ve had feedback from people saying “I wouldn’t be here without you”. A lady said to us “my children still have a mum”. ”

Demand for the charity’s service has drastically increased. “We started off seeing 20 people a week, now its 120. Covid and the cost of living has accelerated this. The biggest challenge we face is funding to maintain what we have going but also to expand. We work in Blacon, Lache, a bit in Kingsway. We want to offer the service to the whole of Chester for low income families – this would be another £100-150 thousand pounds a year we would need to do that. Beyond that we often get asked about Ellesmere Port, Winsford and other parts of Cheshire West- it would be massive. We have people calling us all the time from other areas.

“We’re always looking for long term funding. The Westminster Foundation have been brilliant – they have funded us for the last 4 years. It is a substantial grant that has really helped us get us established. ” The charity is particularly keen to establish links with local businesses or patrons who could support their goals to maintain and expand their services.

“Hopefully we can see changes in the community, particularly when young people we’re seeing now, grow up and have their own children- some of those patterns we currently see can be broken. We all have times when our mental health isn’t great, it’s about recognising when you are struggling and when you need help and where to get help”

The charity currently have a vacancy for a fundraiser

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