A Frome counselling charity is celebrating five years of affordable, professional, person-centred counselling for children, adults, couples and young people in the heart of the town.
Focus Frome held a special birthday party last month, at St John’s Cottage and Church, with guests including local MP Anna Sabine and the town’s mayor, Cllr Andy Jones, in attendance.
“The party was held to celebrate the success and growth of this busy counselling practice,” explained practice manager and counsellor, Lucia Chadwick.
“Since the practice first opened its doors in September 2019, it has helped thousands of people from all walks of life dealing with all sorts of issues, from acute anxiety and trauma to eating disorders and addiction.
“In 2023, with an initial startup grant from Somerset Community Foundation, Focus Frome launched its free Young People’s Drop-in service for 13- to 19-year-olds at The Good Heart Cafe.
“The group acts as a ‘waiting well’ approach to dealing with increased waiting lists and to help ensure that young people get help in a timely, appropriate and resourceful way.
“Focus recently received an additional grant of £3,000 from Frome Town Council to ensure its continuing success in reaching children and young people. They have already offered counselling support to 32 clients, 80% of which went on to have at least 10 funded counselling sessions with a qualified Children and Young People (CYP) counsellor.”
At the birthday event, MP Anna Sabine gave a heartfelt speech and said, “Focus Frome does really important work for young people in our community. I know from being the parent of teenagers how important young people’s mental health is and I look forward to supporting Focus Frome over the next few years.”
Lucia said, “Focus Frome has tripled in size in five short years! We opened with just three staff, we now have 20 staff, including couples’ counsellors, children and young people counsellors and play therapists! In April 2020 to 2021, we conducted 894 sessions and in the last financial year, we ran just less than 2,000 sessions, of which 62% were free or subsidised.
“Focus Frome is part of the fabric of Frome. A town that is lucky to have many mental health services and organisations offering support to those who need it most, including Frome Health Connectors, Frome Birth Talk, Why We Hear You and Wessex Counselling. We are grateful to our many funders and supporters including St John’s Church, Frome Town Council, Frome Rotary, Trinity Church and Somerset Community Foundation. As well as our partners like The Good Heart, who we have worked creatively and collaboratively to help extend our reach to those that need it most.”
Focus Frome is a branch of Focus Counselling, which is a highly respected and busy counselling agency in the centre of Bath that has been serving the community for 25 years. The charity provides over 600 hours of counselling every month. It also has centres in Wells and Bradford-on-Avon.
The agency abides by the Code and Ethics of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy.
To make an appointment with Focus Frome, call 01373 485051 or call the Bath office, which is open Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 7.30pm. There is a 24-hour answering machine and they will call you back as soon as possible. Counselling is available from Monday to Friday.
