{"id":296881,"date":"2025-12-03T14:55:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T14:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/296881\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T14:55:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T14:55:08","slug":"the-simeon-centre-counselling-service-in-bolton-under-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/296881\/","title":{"rendered":"The Simeon Centre counselling service in Bolton under threat"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n The Simeon Centre counselling service in Bolton has been hit by recent changes in national health commissioning. The changes mean voluntary counselling services like Simeon are excluded from NHS funding, their main source of income.\n<\/p>\n

\n The centre said their defining difference over their quarter-century history\u00a0has been the number of sessions they have been able to offer clients with trauma and chronic distress. They always offer a minimum of 10 sessions, sometimes for a period of up to a year, allowing clients to safely unpack and heal.\n<\/p>\n

\n The counselling service<\/a>, based in the town centre, which supports more than 600 people in crisis every year, is conducted entirely by volunteers and students, and recognised as \u2018exemplary\u2019 by Bolton GP Federation.\n<\/p>\n

\n Now, the centre says unless they can raise \u00a325,000 to \u00a330,000 for running costs by December 31, the service will close and more than 600 people will lose access to free support at the point of need.\n<\/p>\n

\n Registered therapist Lisa Howarth said many of the volunteers are \u2018grieving\u2019 at the potential loss of the \u2018beloved\u2019 service. She said: \u201cI\u2019ve heard the centre described by many as the heart of Bolton.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe closure of Simeon would leave an immeasurable gap in mental health support for Bolton. \u201cIt makes no sense for such a valued, and respected free, bespoke counselling service like ours, staffed by qualified, experienced counsellors, to lose its funding.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s heart-breaking to know that vulnerable people will now slip to the bottom of an already overstretched NHS queue.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cBolton is already one of the most deprived boroughs in the North West, with long NHS waiting lists and high levels of psychological need. \u201cMore than 40 counsellors, both qualified and trainee, currently volunteer to keep the service running, but we can no longer cover the essential costs without public awareness and support.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n READ MORE: Simeon Centre Bolton’s target to keep free therapy going<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n Simeon Centre Counselling in Bolton appeals to those in need<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n Youngsters risk being \u2018pushed back into long waits\u2019 for mental health support<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n The service s<\/a>aid NHS waiting lists for mental health counselling are round the country are incredibly high, with Bolton\u2019s exceeding 1,000 people. It added that many people can wait months to be assessed, before being offered six to eight sessions.\n<\/p>\n

\n The Local Democracy Service has seen a letter from a client, who wished to be identified as Molly W, which explained the impact that Simeon<\/a> counselling has.\n<\/p>\n

\n It said: \u201cTo all the wonderful volunteers I want to express my deepest gratitude for the incredible work you do.\n<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI can\u2019t imagine all the lives you\u2019ve touched, hope you\u2019ve restored and and support you\u2019ve given. \u201cThe Simeon offers a safe space, comfort and a belief that brighter days are possible.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThankyou for being a jewel and a gem for Bolton.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Kevin Illingworth, chief executive officer of Simeon, said: \u201cI have had the honour and pleasure to hear the amazing feedback from thousands of clients over the years, including waves of people who have told me they wouldn\u2019t be alive today if it wasn\u2019t for the support of their counsellors.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe thought that our charity won\u2019t be around next year and the deafening silence that will leave in so many homes next Christmas from the loss of loved ones to suicide terrifies me.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIf you are able to support our service in any way, you will be making a huge impact on the lives of so many people, their families, friends and all those who love them dearly.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n The service has begun a fundraiser with a target of \u00a330,000. They said that would enable them to stay open throughout winter and continue supporting those who have nowhere else to turn, while they await a National Lottery funding bid in March and explore new funding streams to secure the service\u2019s future.\n<\/p>\n

\n The fundraiser states that if each person in the Bolton area gave 50p, the service would be funded for a whole year.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u00a335 is the average cost of a counselling session at Simeon Centre and \u00a32,500 would comfortably keep the centre open for a week. \u00a310,000 would keep the centre open for a month.\n<\/p>\n

\n People can donate to the fundraiser at https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/simeon-centre-counselling-bolton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Simeon Centre counselling service in Bolton has been hit by recent changes in national health commissioning. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296882,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[102,1906,6623,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-296881","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-mentalhealth","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}