Year of change for WHY

We Hear You (WHY) has seen quite a few changes over 2017. 

The Frome-based charity moved offices in March to the newly-refurbished Frome Town Hall.  Melissa Hillier from the charity says, “The new premises have been a huge success and have enabled the charity to provide its free professional counselling service in a much lighter, brighter environment.  We have also enjoyed sharing a location with other local charities and the town council.

“WHY’s counselling service has continued to grow and develop this year. We now offer group therapy, thanks to a grant from Macmillan Cancer Support, alongside our one-to-one and online counselling.  The group therapy has been hugely successful and as one client said, ‘This group has been my lifeline. I don’t know what I would have done without it.’

“Every year, we manage to reach more people facing huge life changes as a result of cancer, or other life-threatening conditions. That’s thanks to your support.”

In her own words, here is one person’s own thank you:

“I came to We Hear You counselling at the worst time in my life, completely broken by the loss to cancer of our 28-year-old daughter.  She leaves a small baby so there will be permanent, ongoing issues for the care of our precious granddaughter.

“WHY counselling allowed me the time and space to express my devastation at our losses in a completely confidential, safe setting, without making judgements about the depth of my misery and giving me the opportunity to explore the very beginnings of our new reality.  Thank you to everyone at WHY, especially my counsellor, who facilitated the first stirrings and thoughts of a future for me and my family.”

Melissa continued, “At We Hear You we provide a safe space where people can say the unsayable and ask the unanswerable.  The emotional impact of illness on those affected and those closest to them can often be a hidden burden and We Hear You is here to help.

“The service the charity provides is unique and each year we need to raise more funds to support those that need our help. We manage to do this with the outstanding contributions we get from the local community. This year has been no exception and we have seen many people dressing up, organising events and taking on long cycle rides. We even held our first ever Santa Dash in the snow! We have welcomed continuing support from local companies too including Redrow Homes, Marston Foods, the Co-operative Funeral Care and TSB, plus many more and our ‘charity shop with a difference’ The WHY Gallery continues to raise awareness for our charity whilst working with some locally and internationally-renowned artists and makers.

“We couldn’t continue to support so many people affected by cancer without the community’s phenomenal generosity – A HUGE thank you to you all: we couldn’t do it without you and keep it up as 2018 is looking busier than ever!”