Felicity shares this latest news from the Isle of Wight Youth Trust. Ed
The Isle of Wight Youth Trust has been the grateful recipient of a makeover thanks to the Island community.
On Sunday, 26 February, over 20 Youth Trust friends, family and members of staff set to work to transform the end terraced house at 1 St John’s Place – the only day of the week when the building is not used for counselling.
With just one day to get the work done, it was all hands on deck to transform the building the Youth Trust has called home for over 30 years.
Youth Trust Executive Director, Mairead Healy explained how much work went into renovating the building, which 46 children and young people attended to access counselling during last week alone.
“Thousands of young Islanders and their families have visited our counselling rooms here at the Youth Trust in our 32 years of operation. In 2005 we expanded our service to include counselling for under 13s, which means we see Islanders as young as 5 years and at the other end, up to 24 years of age. With such a wide age range, it’s really hard to create rooms which meet the needs of all our clients.
“It took a lot of planning and support for our makeover, but we think we have found a good balance. We think this will make a huge difference for our clients, in ensuring they have a positive experience in accessing counselling services, to ensure our young people feel at ease and welcomed in an uplifting environment.”
She further added,
“Our priority has always been delivering easy-to-access counselling services for young islanders. Aside from our statutory funding, we have to fundraise for over two thirds of our funding each year, so, without community support we simply could not have managed this.
“We would like to extend a huge thanks to everyone who helped make this project a success including: a cash donation from Malcolm and Robina Marshall, also to Jewson, who donated our painting supplies, Readers Interiors who helped us out with our counselling chairs and our corporate sponsors at The Royal, whose staff volunteered along with many other Youth Trust supporters.
“Everyone did a top job and we are incredibly grateful for their efforts.”
