Signpost achieves this by offering young people a safe and sup-portive listening environment where they can engage in free, con-fidential therapeutic services, which respond to their needs. We support young people’s development by increasing their self-awareness and confidence at the same time as offering support to the adults in their lives. We do this through: One to one counselling Fast track counselling Coaching Social Groups in Hemel and Watford Assemblies and Stress workshops in local schools Parent workshops on Teenage mental health Our services are delivered in the Following towns in Hertfordshire:

Signpost’s vision is to empower young peo-ple to embrace their

uniqueness, find their voice and forge their

future.

Tring

Hemel Hempstead

Watford

South Oxhey

Borehamwood

Rickmansworth

Berkhamsted

Trustees: Sheila Barton, Jon Cooper, Shirena Counter, Aurelie Coze, Jennifer Rees, David Seddon, Angela Thurstan, Caron Williams

Volunteer Counsellors and Coaches: Angela Adams, Joanne Barnett, Julia Bernard, Diane Bugeja, Joe Callanan, Victoria Chisholm, Amanda Clark, Liz Farrow, Debra Gee, Peter Granger, Shahhul Haji, Carrie Hanson, Claire Jakeman, Clare Johnston, Robert Kramer, Karen Kwok, Paul Law, Joanne Marks, Gabi Marshall, Paula Mates, Karen Mistlin, Teresa Murray, Melanie Nicholson, Kathryn Nicolai, Asher Rickayzen, Aayesha Shaikh, Mary Sheaf, Jon Sleeper, Chris Szewczykowski, Maggie Taylor, Jo-Ann Terry, Louise Theobold, Dawn Toone, Jo Turner, Sulebha Walsh, Kay Ward, Christina Woodward

VolunteerSupport Workers, Fundraisers etc: Tim Allen, Helen Atherton, Tayla Bean, Alexa Carter, Courtney Clarke, Emma Daniels, Kate Docherty, Rebecca Hargreaves, Annie Heaton, Richard Hilton, Mark Hollings, Billi-Jo Hutchins, Klara Hynes, Dorothy Jackman, Kerry Lanigan, Sarah Laver, Andy Neil, Sarah Paul, Shristi Putcha, Sofia Remonutaki, Damilola Siyanbola

Office Staff: William Allen, Therese Baker, Amanda Bond, Josie Hantonne, Barbara Hynes, Susan Woolnough

Everything we achieve is thanks to a whole host of people, most of whom provide their

time, skills and passion as volunteers.

Our team at the time of the 2016 AGM were:

William Allen Chief Executive

This year has broken all re-cords. We delivered 5,103 sessions, helped 429 young people and worked from ten locations! Our newly-launched social group in Hemel is nearly as busy as our long-standing Watford group. Our out-reach activities ranged from ‘pizza and problem-solving’ outreach groups to supporting residents at Dacorum Emergency Night Shelter. And the end of the year saw the launch of a new Drop-in service. Our proudest success must be the completion of our Big Lottery project. On budget, on target and now fully signed off. It is a credit to everyone at Sign-post that we can deliver a large three-year project to the satisfaction of a national funder

This year’s pop art theme was created by Billi-Jo and Tayla of Cavendish School in Hemel. It is wonderful that young people contrib-ute to our work in this way. This year we continue to thrive despite bucking the current trend by offering unfunded, long-term counselling. This is only possible because over 75% of our work is delivered by volunteer counsellors. The great achievements recorded in this review are only possible because of their dedication.

Jon Cooper, Chair

David Seddon, Treasurer

Income 2015 (£) 2016 (£)

Public Funding 74,900 83,412

Trusts and Grants 66,987 60,502

Donations & Traded 33,823 60,907

TOTAL 175,800 204,752

Expenditure

Management & Admin 34,299 35,015

Clinical staff & project costs 92,546 114,304

Premises & Comms 25,795 23,696

Other 12,446 8,325

TOTAL 164,086 181,340

Balance and Reserves

Balance brought forward 40,069 69,683

Net incoming resources 11,714 23,481

Urban Access reserves 17,900 -

Carried forward 69,683 93,164

We have grown by 70% in the past two years. So, to have achieved a surplus for the third year in a row as well is quite an achievement. This provides Trustees with the resources to : 1) continue developing innovative

and dynamic projects to meet the needs of young people and

2) support further growth, enabling us to become more specialised and professional

the time it takes to address the problems the young per-son is dealing with and identify whether they need longer-term support. Two thirds of our clients are short-term clients, who usually have issues that are not so severe or they make enough progress to want to get on with their lives. All client progress is measured using the nationally-recognised Clinical Outcomes through Routine Evaluation (CORE) tool. The graph below shows that all our clients improve to below the recommended level for clinical intervention. Unsurprisingly, short-term clients tend to have a lower level of need when they start.

All clients are initially offered

up-to 16 sessions of counselling.

As it often takes half a dozen sessions for a client to trust a counsellor and open up, this is

Average client CORE

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

Start EndShort-term

Long-term

Recommended level for clinical intervention

Kevin (14) from Hemel Hempstead had been bullied since primary school. He was now getting into fights at school and was at risk of permanent exclusion. 12 weeks of counselling helped him deal with his anger and understand its causes. He worked on strategies for building

stronger relationships at School and his teachers report his schoolwork has improved too!

The graph above shows the most common improve-ments young people report at their reviews

While the most common outcomes are confidence and resilience, it is interesting that there is a strong secondary health outcome with improved sleep, diet and exercise.

Short-term clients' improvements

25% 50% 75% 100%

More confident & resilient

Improved relationships

Better sleeping, diet, exercise

School/College/work

Joining more activities

Controlling anger

Better family life

Managing self-harm / suicidality

Presenting circumstances

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Single-parent households

BME

Disability

LGBT+

Care leaver / homeless etc

Long-term clients' presenting issues

0% 25% 50% 75%

Anxiety / Depression

Self-harm / suicidality

Abuse

Family

Drugs / Alcohol

We are alone in of-fering free,

independent, long-term counselling

for young people in this area.

The third of clients who receive long-term support usually have more complex or enduring needs. They tend to suffer from more serious levels of depression, often associated with self-harm or suicidal thoughts. Some face very challenging circumstances, such as coping with the impact of abuse, coping with a parent’s mental illness or a parent having died. The improvements achieved are similar to those achieved by the short-term clients, but as the CORE graph on the previous page shows, their needs are more serious when they start and the long-term input means the progress is stronger.

Samiah (17) from Rickmans-worth was struggling to cope at College. She soon told us she had been sexually abused by her uncle. We supported her to share this with the po-lice and then to cope with the fall-out this caused with her family. After six months of counselling she was performing better at College and felt like she could leave the past behind her.

Presenting circumstances

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Single-parent households

BME

Disability

LGBT+

Care leaver / homeless etc

Clients come with a wide range of difficulties

Emotional and psychological difficulties do not know socio-economic boundaries, but we see many young people who come from communities which are often disadvantaged. Young people from these communities often have more complex needs.

There is only so far a weekly counselling appointment can go. Some young people benefit from having a safe space to try things out and take some gentle risks. At the social groups, which run in both Watford and Hemel Hempstead, young people meet other young people who are in or have received counselling. The most common reported outcomes are:

“finding out I’m not the only one!” “overcoming my social anxieties” “having something to look forward to” “Making some new friends”

As well as calm activities, such as crafts, games and photography, the group does outdoor activities, such as sailing and trips, including a summer beano to Southend (both pictured below)

27 young people participated in our

social groups, developing

confidence and making friends.

Vicki (16) from Elstree was struggling with Dad, a habitual drug-user recently out of prison, disappearing for days on end and caring for mum, who was diagnosed with a terminal illness. She was struggling to engage with School. Counselling supported her through her GCSEs and helped her to build a more stable life in which she only took responsi-bility for what she could manage.

14 young people volunteered or did

work placements with us last year

The roles performed ranged from writing this review (Billi-Jo and Tayla from Cavendish School pictured to the right) to our Young People’s Think-tank helping us redesign our website and from promoting our work at ASDA at the Dome roundabout (also pictured right) to West Herts College media students editing videos for our website. Involvement of young people in these ways is something we are doing more and more of—we even have a former client as a Trustee!

This year we recruited and supported five trainee counsellors with a counselling placement. This is a collective effort involving Clinical Managers, Clinical Supervisors but also the support and input of experienced colleagues. Counselling can be a lonely profession and so we offer opportunities for our counsellors to feel connected to fellow professionals. Our pamper day offering head massage, manicures and other treats was a very popular reward, and many counsellors enjoyed social gatherings at quiz nights, open garden events and Signpost forums. Our annual dinner enjoyed a very strong turn-out. Jennifer Rees, a forensics lecturer at West Herts College, qualified counsellor and member of the UK Youth Health Parliament shared her thoughts on “Recall and Trauma—How Far Can Our Memories be Trusted?” (pictured bottom left). She could not resist Signpost’s charms and is now a Trustee!

At Signpost we also support counselling professionals, local schools and staff

This year we also provided training for counsellors in a wide range of topics, including:

Supporting young people on the autistic spectrum Undertaking Initial Assessments Evaluating Progress in the Counselling room with 10-14

year-olds Using art, clay and sand trays to help young people open

up in the counselling room (pictured bottom right) Level 3 safeguarding

We supported 7 local secondary schools with assemblies raising awareness of teenage mental health and how to manage exam stress. We supported 5 local secondary schools with workshops for parents on:

Understanding the teenage mind Adolescent mental health Teenagers and electronic media

And the office staff get in on the act too with an annual away day (pictured top left) and other team-building silliness, such as a cake sale to raise funds for Global’s Make Some Noise cam-paign (pictured top right).

We are grateful for the support of local businesses: Parker Industries in Hemel (pictured); De Lage Lan-

den in Croxley; TK Maxx in Watford and De Villiers Surveyors. Their

committed fundraising, generosity and dedication raised over £15,000

At our annual dinner hosted by West

Herts College’s ca-tering students, Mary

Sheaf won the Rayna Shock Award for commitment out-side of the counsel-

ling room.

Heart FM chose us as one of their high-lighted charities for

‘Global’s Make Some Noise’. Olivia,

a former client, bravely allowed her

story to be broadcast

Thank you to the Stuart-Smiths. Their open garden teas at

Serge Hill House and music event,

Piefest, raised over £2000 and brought colour to our year. Our social groups

even joined in!

Things are never dull at Signpost. Here’s a

snapshot of our activities outside the

counselling room!

We are extremely glad of the support we get from local churches. Trustee Sheila Barton is pictured receiving a donation from the parish priests of St Mary’s and St Paul’s in Hemel, who raised money for us through their

Christmas appeal

The quiz on the last Wednesday of the month (except August and

December) at the Post Office Arms in Boxmoor gets so busy, people have to bring their own chairs! This year it raised over

£2,000 for Signpost

And then there’s the mayoral visits, local

rock band, Badwolf’s, gig at The Flag in Wat-ford, the Gobstoppers

Glee Club concert, Little Gaddesden open gar-

dens, ghost tours in the Old Town….

We extended our reach by opening a counselling service

in Tring. Liz and Mary now work out

of Tring Park School’s Medical

Centre.

Signpost Watford Advice Centre St Mary’s Churchyard High Street Watford WD17 2BE 01923 239495

administrator@signpostcounselling.co.uk www.signpostcounselling.co.uk

/signpostforyoungpeople @signpostnews

None of this work would be possible

without the support of the following: