Fingers-Crossed For Success!

There’s a real buzz at a Lincoln counselling centre  where the team is hoping to end the year on a real high!

Staff at the Naomi Watkins Counselling Hub – which is based on the city’s Allenby Business Park – have their fingers-cross their Chief Executive Naomi Watkins-Ligudzinska will return from this year’s Lincolnshire Tech & Innovations Awards in high spirits.

They also have their fingers-crossed that a newly launched crowdfunding drive will hit its £10,000 target, so that they can use their expertise to deliver their wide-ranging “life-saving” support to scores of people on the Hub’s waiting list who are in urgent need of help.

The Tech & Innovation Awards, a major highlight in the county’s social calendar, are taking place at the Epic Centre at the Lincolnshire Showground on Thursday, December 16 at 7.30pm.

Naomi and her team are over the moon to have been named finalists in three categories: Innovation in Health & Wellbeing, Tech for Good and Not Just Profit Business of the Year.

“It’s a great achievement to get this far and we are really looking forward to an exciting evening because there is always a fantastic buzz at these Awards,” said Naomi.

At the height of the Coronavirus pandemic, NWCH was determined clients would not miss their sessions, despite being forced into lockdown, having to work from home and care for school children.

Although the Hub team was supporting 800 individuals a month, counsellors managed to continue their valuable work by transitioning from face-to-face sessions to providing telephone and online counselling.

“So many people’s mental health was suffering because they couldn’t socialise with family and friends, missed the workplace camaraderie and had to help children with their schoolwork,” said Naomi.

“We have received some fantastic feedback from our former and current clients and now we want to help the people still on our waiting list – who can include individuals from children aged four to young people and adults.

“This work is urgent because we know everyone’s mental and physical health has been strained by all sorts of issues, including the often-hidden trauma of sexual, child and domestic abuse, as well as self-harm, suicide ideation and, of course, bereavement.

“We know they desperately need our help, but the pandemic has really stretched our resources, so we hope our crowdfunding campaign will give us the necessary financial support we need to reduce, or even clear our waiting list,” said Naomi.

Naomi’s Crowdfunder campaign has not only received the full support of her colleagues at the Hub, but many sponsors have stepped forward with a range of offers to encourage people to donate in the hope the campaign reaches its target.

Donations promise to make a real difference to so many more lives, said Naomi, and people can find out more and pledge their support by visiting: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/nwch