The Covid-19 pandemic and its accompanying lockdowns continue to put a double squeeze on the ability of CLEAR to support children and adults who have been affected by abuse and emotional trauma.
The pandemic and resultant lockdown has led to changing demands and increased costs, while at the same time severely limiting the opportunities for fundraising and income generation.
Additional funding, announced on 18 November 2020, from the Ministry of Justice through the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund is helping the CLEAR to adapt to new ways of working, bridge the gap in lost income and manage the upturn in people asking for help.
Carolyn Webster, Chief Executive of CLEAR, said: “The new funding is very welcome – it will enable us to continue to support our clients in these difficult times and to adapt our delivery to meet the needs of social distancing, transferring some of our services to online or telephone support. The demand for our services continues to outstrip our resources and our fundraising is even more important in these challenging times.”
For more information about the national programme:
www.gov.uk/government/news/funding-boost-for-rape-and-domestic-abuse-support
We have reviewed service delivery in light of the advice on the restrictions that come into force on Thursday November 5th. The current approach of CLEAR is as follows:
Children and Young People
Where face to face therapy has commenced, this will continue subject to the consent of the therapist, client and carer, and the availability of a safe space to deliver.
For new Children and Young people referrals options will be discussed on a case by case basis.
Adults
Where face to face counselling has commenced, this will continue subject to the consent of the counsellor and client, and the availability of a safe space to deliver.
If face to face is no longer possible then therapy can be switched to remote support (telephone or online/video call) or the client can be put on hold.
For new referrals we will maintain our current position of remote counselling as the default for the adult service.
We continue to prioritise the wellbeing and safety of our workforce and clients, and to respect individual circumstances through these difficult times.
Previous Covid-19 statements are available here: 25 September, 18 July, 25 March, 18 March
At the moment we do not know if the new lockdown will continue past the current 4 week period - we will continue to keep our approach under review as the situation with the pandemic evolves.
We have looked at all the current information and guidance available to us in determining the way forward for our services.
In addition to our position outlined on 18 July:
For existing clients: where 1-2-1 work has started remotely, it will continue remotely unless there are pressing reasons why this should not be the case, and this can be undertaken safely.
For new clients: our overall direction of travel is a cautious move towards increasing the volumes of face to face work. This is likely to be accelerated for therapeutic work with children and young people. We will, wherever possible, continue to offer adult counselling by telephone or video call but where this is clearly not meeting the needs of the client then we can consider and undertake face to face work. Clients will be asked about their circumstances in relation to remote / face to face working as part of the referral process, but at the moment we will not be offering face to face work by default.
Previous Covid-19 statements are available here: 18 July, 25 March, 18 March
We will continue to keep our approach under review as the situation with the pandemic evolves.
Cornwall based Charity CLEAR, who support people of all ages impacted by abuse and trauma, in particular trauma that is linked to domestic abuse and sexual violence, have had their accreditation from the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) renewed for their Children’s Service for a further five years.
Carolyn Webster, Chief Executive said: “The re-accreditation is a welcome endorsement of our continuing commitment to high standards of our counselling and therapy. This accreditation gives our clients and partners ongoing confidence in the quality and professionalism of all we do in supporting children impacted by abuse and trauma.
We are dedicated to the highest levels of care and support for people of all ages impacted by abuse and trauma. The need for our services consistently exceeds our resources to deliver and this is particularly exacerbated in Covic-19 pandemic.”
Sue Brown, Chair of the Board Trustees said: “Congratulations to Carolyn and all of the team. The application process is rigorous and it is great to get feedback from the BACP assessor that included the observation on our submission ‘shows that CLEAR is providing a comprehensive, professional service to its users and for the benefit of the organisation’
This accreditation provides us with external recognition of the quality of our service. I am particularly proud of the fact that we uniquely offer support to people of all ages across Cornwall.”
BACP accreditation is a nationally recognised and valued quality status for practitioners, services and training courses that recognises the achievement of high standards of knowledge, experience and development in counselling and psychotherapy.
CLEAR are seeking new trustees who will contribute to the board with their experience in HR, financial management and corporate fundraising.
Sue Brown, Chair of the CLEAR Trustees, said: “We have a great Board of Trustees at CLEAR and in planning for the future we have identified a number of areas where we want to further strengthen our skill base.
We would like to hear from people who would like to help us make a positive difference in preventing, reducing and helping children, young people and adults to heal from emotional trauma, in particular trauma that is linked to domestic abuse and sexual violence. We are looking for people who have skills and experience in HR, financial management and corporate fundraising.
Thanks to funding from the Lloyds Bank Foundation Reach Volunteering are supporting us in this important step forward for the charity.”
The key duties of a charity trustee is to ensure that the organisation complies with its governing document, charity law, company law and any other relevant legislation or regulations. Each trustee should use any specific skills, knowledge or experience they have to help the board of trustees reach sound decisions. This may involve scrutinising board papers, leading discussions, focusing on key issues, providing advice and guidance on new initiatives, or other issues in which the trustee has special expertise.
We are fully committed to increasing the diversity of our board. A more diverse board will understand better the needs of all sections of the community, offer a broader range of perspectives about issues, and be more creative in generating ideas and solutions. To this end we want to recruit people with different skills, life experiences and from different backgrounds. We would especially welcome applications from male candidates, BAME communities and young trustees who are all under-represented on our board.
Applications should be made via Reach Volunteering in the first instance.
www.reachvolunteering.org.uk/opp/trustees-116
In order to submit an application, please provide an up to date CV and a cover letter, explaining why you are interested in joining CLEAR’s board of trustees, how your skills and experience would add value to the organisation and any other relevant details.
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