On Monday 17th February the High Sheriff of Suffolk, Rosalind Eminson, visited the Kernos Centre and presented the counselling team with a Certificate of Recognition as a token of appreciation on behalf of the County of Suffolk and all those who have benefited from the hard work and service provided by the Centre to support vulnerable people.
The High Sheriff stated that she had become more and more aware of the problems with mental health as her year progressed. She was shocked to learn however that, over the last 5 years, there had been an 80% increase in referrals to the Centre.
Director of Counselling Chris Boatwright said: “We received 459 referrals last year for local residents from Sudbury, Cornard and the surrounding villages and 66 referrals so far in 2020. This demonstrates the need in our community for continued wellbeing support for adults, children and young people. Mental & psychological distress can affect every area of a person’s life and drastically impact on their ability to function. This huge increase in referrals has greatly increased our waiting list.
“We have always worked to address the gap in statutory provision but it is now much wider than before and increasing year on year. The local need and demand for our service is therefore much greater, mainly because receiving counselling from the NHS is now almost impossible. This has resulted in Kernos receiving many more referrals from GP’s, Mental Health teams and West Suffolk Hospital, without any more follow-on funding.
“Counselling therapy offered by the Kernos Centre is holistic, not merely treating symptoms but working with the individual, looking at the causes of the problems experienced and seeing how this impacts on their life. At Kernos we have found that, given a relationship of safety, time, support and information, people can struggle with their most deep rooted and troubling feelings with courage and resilience. This enables them to become people who can value themselves, and what they can achieve, so that they can make positive choices and move forward in their lives.
“We were delighted to receive this certificate from the High Sheriff. The enthusiasm energy and commitment displayed by the volunteers and staff at Kernos is difficult to convey here but everyone involved gives more of themselves than any job description would imply and this acknowledgement is testament to that”.
