Features / #BristolCharityAdvent
#BristolCharityAdvent day 14: The Harbour
The Harbour is a Bristol-based charity offering counselling, psychotherapy and social support to people who are most in need.
The charity provides a safe space in which people suffering from potentially terminal illnesses can talk about their struggles. The Trust also encourages carers and loved ones, as well as people who have experienced a bereavement, to seek help if they want to.
Volunteers Colin and Linda manning a cake stall, raising money for The Harbour
Since being founded in 1992, The Harbour have offered more than 40,000 hours of counselling to over 25,000 people. More than 200 people from Bristol and the South West seek The Harbour’s support each year, and on average 2,000 counselling sessions are carried out annually.
“The prospect of counselling was quite daunting. My sessions with my counsellor were however a revelation and have had such a positive effect on my life,” one anonymous user of the service said.
“For many patients, it is particularly helpful that they are seen away from the hospitals that are associated with their medical treatment. The environment at The Harbour is ideally suited to the service being provided,” says Amanda Saunders from NHS Bristol.
The Harbour celebrated 25 years of supporting Bristolians in 2017, and demand for their services is growing rapidly. There was a 25 per cent increase in referrals across this year alone.
As a small, non-profit organisation, The Harbour is a charity that runs completely off the support of passionate and hard-working volunteers. Without them, reaching the increased level of people in need wouldn’t be possible.
For support or to find out how to make a difference to someone else’s life by volunteering or donating, phone 0117 925 9348 or visit www.the-harbour.org.uk.
Read more: #BristolCharityAdvent day 13: W.A.G.s
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