High Sheriff of North Yorkshire hails truly ‘inspirational’ Harrogate charity as it faces explosion of demand

High Sheriff Clare Granger made the comments after a visit to the headquarters of Wellspring Therapy & Training, the leading Harrogate-based counselling service,

Speaking after a tour of the former St Andrew’s Vicarage in Starbeck, she revealed she was “incredibly impressed by the warmth, friendliness and inclusivity” of the charity.

“Wellspring is providing a vitally important service in extremely challenging times for mental health,” said the High Sheriff.

“It was a tremendous privilege to hear about the vital work Wellspring are doing.

"This is a charity that deserves our fullest support.

"It is no secret that the National Health Service is struggling to cope with the demand on its mental health services and Wellspring is helping, in a focused and pro-active way, in helping to ease this burden.”

Wellspring was founded in Harrogate in 2003 to provide affordable short and long-term counselling, on a pay-as-you-can-basis, for the Harrogate and district community.

Recent years have seen an explosion in referrals to this highly-respected charity.

Emily Fullarton, executive director of Wellspring said demand for its services from children and young people aged between four and 18 had never been higher.

"We are proud of what we have achieved over the years.

"Through counselling, children and young people can re-gain trust in people and improve their self-esteem and emotional wellbeing.

"But demand from youngsters has been growing for a range of factors, including the pandemic and the relentless pressure of social media and exams.

"The cost-of-living crisis has also meant that many families are struggling to make ends meet and this has a knock-on effect on family dynamics.

"Unfortunately, we have been unable to grow the number of counselling sessions because of a lack of suitably-qualified people.

"There is also a lack of funding which has led to a stagnation in the growth of our service and a massive gap in the provision of services to children and young people.”

If you would like to donate to Wellspring, select the donate button at: https://wellspringtherapy.co.uk/