Issue 34 January
2012
As another year starts, at a time when austerity measures are
starting to bite, and family finances tighten up, it is clear
that there are deeply challenging times ahead. More and more
people are being affected by stress, anger, depression....etc,
and are turning to alcohol and other substances ‘in order to
cope’. But OACAS is rising to the challenge, and we are
endeavouring to increase the services we can deliver: see
overleaf. But first, let us celebrate!
More for less
AThe
“philosopher’s stone” desired by local and national government
has been achieved by OACAS!!!
An analysis of costs to client ratio over
the last 3 completed operational years shows that although our
annual spend has been increasing, the numbers of clients
assisted has been rising even faster – resulting in reduced
costs per client as follows:
-
Year ended 31 March 2009: 213 clients
seen, £157,366 spent = £738 per client
treatment/intervention
-
Year ended 31 March 2010: 329 clients
seen, £191,944 spent = £583 per client
treatment/intervention
-
Year ended 31 March 2011: 388 clients seen, £204,666 spent =
£527 per client treatment/intervention
In the last completed year, 2111 appointments were kept,
averaging 5.5 kept meetings per client at a cost of £96 per kept
meeting. Moreover this is
total
cost – i.e. basic training and accreditation for volunteer
Counsellors, their continuing professional development,
provision of premises from which to work, support and
supervision, and all management and fundraising matters.
More for Orkney
The money provided to us does not all come
from the Islands Council or NHS Orkney. One of our largest
funders, quite rightly, has been the local Alcohol & Drugs
Partnership. But external charitable funders such as the Lloyds
TSB Foundation for Scotland, the Robertson Trust, Glasgow,
Awards for All and others local and national, have given us a
continual flow totalling about £50,000 per annum: this year we
may reach £70,000. This is money which goes towards the
provision of 5 full time and 1 part-time paid staff, training
for staff and volunteers, and all office overheads; money which
would not otherwise come into Orkney.
Many of our volunteers over the years have
either found some work with us, or have been able to transfer
the skills gained with us to other paid or volunteer employment.
More for Orcadians
The big result however is the improvement in the reported
wellbeing of clients at the end of the Counselling intervention.
Our basic exit interviews record a minimum 70% improvement rate,
many clients insisting that the improvement is much higher. We
are more accurately charting these improvements by utilising
more sophisticated measuring tools which can record changes
between meetings and demonstrate progress made over the period
of intervention. Happier individuals mean happier families,
happier workmates and colleagues: a happier society, whereby we
help to meet Scottish Government outcomes – our clients leading
longer, healthier lives
in communities where people take responsibility for their
own actions and how they affect others.
SWAT
This project aims
to provide 'Support With Adolescent Transitions' and has been
funded by LEADER, with matched funding from The Gannochy Trust,
Bank of Scotland Foundation, The Slater Trust, Orkney Rotarians,
Lows & OACAS. It builds on evidence from the successful
In-School Counselling project by targeting an area identified as
being of particular importance to adolescents in Orkney.
Many of the adolescent population,
especially those from the Isles, have to make very significant
transitions early (e.g. from Primary to Secondary school,
sometimes involving Hostel living). While we recognise
that other services like Education and The Hostel are also
focusing on this, as a matter of course, we feel that we can
make a contribution too.
Our programme hopes to encourage young people to support and
mentor other young people, who may be anxious about or
struggling with moving from one life stage to another. We
intend to run a series of awareness raising and skills
development workshops and then recruit a number of young people
to a longer training programme. We hope this group will
then be able to accompany us in visiting some of our remote and
rural communities and pass on their learning to the young people
there. In addition the group may be able to provide
familiar faces and listening ears for younger ones when they
eventually make
their own transitions.
All of this is underpinned by having a
continuing counselling presence in the secondary schools. SWAT
will be developed alongside the staff at the schools, and also
in partnership with the communities involved. Ultimately, the
sustainability of the project will not rely on our input but
that of the young people themselves, which will be both
empowering and challenging!
Play Therapy
One of our Youth Counselling
Co-ordinator’s keenest interests is in the help that can be
given to younger children by enabling them to achieve their
potential by reducing emotional, behavioural, and mental health
difficulties, by carefully designed and delivered professional
Play Therapy. Renate has obtained a Provisional Post Graduate
Certificate of Therapeutic Play Skills, and has since been
building her portfolio towards an MA in Practice based Play
Therapy, through PTUK and the University of Canterbury.
She has been building up her local Play
Therapy practice and is now seeing six youngsters per week. Word
is getting about regarding her successful outcomes, which are
being sought more and more......
Group Work
We are delighted to be able to announce that the Robertson Trust
have pledged £69,000 over the next 3 years to enable us to
deliver Counsellor facilitated Group Therapy, Client Group
Support, and Group user feedback to our services – and indeed to
support other groups that may evolve. This award was made from
their 50th Anniversary Award, of the 475 applications
made to the Trust only 37 were granted. Once we have sourced a
further £10,000 per year for three years to match this pledge,
we will be able to develop and deliver this new service.
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