The award of £20,000 came from Talbot Village Trust’s Covid-19 Support Fund.  It was used to employ new counsellors to increase availability and help the charity cope with the increased demand on the service as a result of the various lockdowns.

The funding enabled YMCA Bournemouth to deliver high-quality counselling services remotely to a range of vulnerable families across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

Senior Operations Officer at YMCA Bournemouth, Mark Inkpen, said, “We are so grateful to Talbot Village Trust for mobilising a significant and swift response to the Coronavirus pandemic. As well as a health crisis, Covid-19 is also a mental health one. This funding enabled us to scale up our counselling service to address the mental health and psychosocial aspects of the Covid-19 outbreak to assist our service users and the wider community.

“We believe by offering access to professional and free counselling we can provide a lifeline for people that might not otherwise have received help throughout the pandemic.”

Trustee at Talbot Village Trust, Russell Lucas-Rowe, said, “It is important that we do everything we can to address the mental health concerns that have arisen as a result of the pandemic. The work YMCA Bournemouth do in this area is phenomenal and we are proud to support such a worthwhile cause on its mission to deliver essential services in the area.”

YMCA Bournemouth is a registered charity that provides a range of services and projects that give children, young people and vulnerable individuals hope for a better future and the means to achieve it.

Talbot Village Trust is now accepting grant applications before the Trustees meet in autumn 2021.

Visit www.talbotvillagetrust.org for more information.