Frome’s Wessex Counselling & Psychotherapy service celebrates move to new premises

ESTABLISHED in 1983, Wessex Counselling & Psychotherapy, Frome’s longest running counselling service, is celebrating its move to larger premises from the start of February 2022.  

Having outgrown Fairfield House on King Street, where the charity was based for 30 years, it has now crossed the street to number 5, the newly refurbished building which previously accommodated the Citizens’ Advice Bureau.  

Jane Bennett, who has worked with the charity as administrator and training co-ordinator for the past eight years, said, “I am delighted to be based in the new premises, which offers more space for both counselling and counsellor training, particularly as the demand for both has noticeably increased in recent years.”  

Due to mark its 40th anniversary next year, Wessex Counselling & Psychotherapy had small beginnings in Warminster in the early 1980s, with meetings in a local pub to start the organisation, and mainly volunteer counsellors responding to the growing needs of local people for affordable, open-ended counselling to address a wide range of difficulties.  

With the support of landlord Lawrence Fairfield, the move to Frome’s King Street in 1992 enabled the organisation to develop programmes to train new counsellors.  

As Fairfield House became too small to accommodate both counselling and training services, Wessex Counselling & Psychotherapy used a variety of locations around the town to train its student counsellors, including the Old Bakehouse, the Round Tower, the Cheese and Grain, Frome Library, and the Canoe Club. Counselling sessions have also been offered through Locks Hill Surgery, at the Key Centre and Frome Hospital.  

Students and trainees of the organisation’s counselling and psychotherapy courses have come from all walks of life, including teachers, probation officers, church volunteers, NHS staff, and community workers. 

The new premises, which for the first time in the charity’s history brings everything together under one roof, also enables people with limited mobility to access services more readily. And the move is timely as the organisation opens up again to more face-to-face services after two years of working remotely via Zoom.  

Andrew Pullin, one of the charity’s six trustees, commented, “Our priority throughout the pandemic has been the welfare and safety of our counsellors, staff, trainees and clients. The trustees would like to acknowledge the hard work of everybody involved in Wessex Counselling to ensure this.”   

He also stressed the importance of the support that the service continues to offer people in current times, against the backdrop of the rising cost of living and stress brought on by the pandemic. 

Wessex Counselling & Psychotherapy has been enormously grateful for the support it has received from the local community over the years, which has enabled it to offer counselling to people on low incomes, and would like to take the opportunity to thank all the individuals who have fundraised in various ways, such as through cycling from John O’Groats to Land’s End, and running marathons; and it is grateful to all the local organisations who have supported them financially, including Frome Lions, the Rotary Club, Mendip Community Fund, Frome Relief in Sickness, the Woodlanders, and Somerset Masonic charities.  

Looking back through the Wessex archives, the positive outcomes for local people over many years are evident. A press cutting from 1995 quotes a local man as saying: “… the counselling service saved my life, my marriage and my family. I will always be grateful for the fantastic job counsellors do. I am convinced that I would not be around today if I hadn’t taken that very difficult decision to swallow my pride and seek help.” 

If you or anyone you know could do with some support with anxiety, depression or a range of issues, please contact Wessex Counselling & Psychotherapy on 01373 453355 or via the website: www.wessexcp.co.uk