COUNCILLORS have agreed to support a counselling service in Wellington with a grant of £6,000 to help meet the growing demand from local people for help.

Members of Wellington Town Council had originally deferred putting off making a decision on whether to support the Wellington Community Counselling group until they had gained more information about what services were currently available.

But councillors quickly made their minds up at their latest meeting when they heard from town clerk Kathryn Hemensley that it was not a rosy picture for counselling services in Wellington.

A short consultation had been carried out to gain more details about the level of need for counselling and mental health support in Wellington, and what services were available.

“We surveyed a local pre-school, primary school, medical centre and Wellington School,” said Ms Hemensley in a report. “The general consensus was that counselling provision for young people in Wellington was practically non-existent.

“It is only available following medical referrals in life-threatening situations, demand far outstrips supply and all organisations have felt the effects of cuts to such services.”

Ms Hemensley told councillors at the meeting: “Everyone has been telling us that the demand for counselling in this area is huge. Everyone is worried about their children.”

Rhonda Lovell, founder of the Wellington Community Counselling group, attended the council meeting and said it had 42 clients a week.

She said the overall aim of the group was to create a Community Well-Being and Mental Health Centre in Wellington to help cater for demand.

Councillors heard the group spent £3,000 a month on wages and that funding had been successfully sought from other agencies.

Deputy Mayor Cllr Mark Lithgow, a director of the Wellington Community Counselling organisation, who was allowed to speak on the issue before being asked to leave the discussion, said: “They are trying to create a sustainable counselling service for Wellington. They aren’t looking to expand anywhere else.”

Cllr Dean Bradley said: “I think this is massively needed in Wellington and I’m getting the same message from lots of people I speak with.”

Cllr Vivienne Stock-Williams said: “I’ve been listening to people over the years about this group and it has got a good reputation in the town. The group is frustrated that it is not able to do more in the town because the need is there.”

Cllr Sean Pringle-Koskowsky added: “This can be a step in the right direction to helping to solve problems we’ve got in the town such as anti-social behaviour. This town needs this assistance.”

Cllr Chris Booth said Wellington was not a ‘unique town’ when it came to anti-social behaviour problems but added he would be happy to support the grant application.

Councillors have also agreed to award the Family Counselling Trust with a £2,997 grant to offer counselling to young people in Wellington experiencing mental ill-health.