From left: bereavement services manager Chrystelle Heldire, Caris administrator Liz Brereton and senior counsellor Gifty Ogene
A BEREAVEMENT service that has helped thousands of people for more than 25 years – including children who lost parents to Covid – could be forced to close its doors at the end of the month if it cannot find £60,000 in the next two weeks.
Caris Islington launches an emergency appeal today (Friday) after a funding black hole left the charity looking for £35,000 in the next two weeks to stay solvent and pay off its creditors, while £60,000 would give it a “brighter future”.
The charity, which started in 1996, also ran a homeless shelter in partnership with eight churches offering those sleeping rough a place to keep warm throughout winter’s coldest months, although that service stopped during Covid and has been unable to restart.
Chair of the board of trustees Nick Hopkins said it would be a “tragedy” if Caris closed, adding: “I think it offers a brilliant service that provides help to people in need. I spoke to someone who used the service in the noughties and she said she felt it saved her life following the death of a family member – and all these years later she’s still interested in how the service is going.”
Mr Hopkins, an insurance underwriter who works as a trustee on a voluntary basis, became involved with the charity two years ago after seeking therapy as an adult over the loss of his mother when he was just two.
The service is currently working with 23 children including those aged as young as four, and offers free counselling with no set limit to the number of sessions a client is entitled to.
Thirty volunteer counsellors are based at the centre in Tollington Park, between Finsbury Park and Crouch Hill, treating more than 250 people from Islington each year. While their funding dropped over the pandemic, demand for counselling services increased as larger numbers of people experienced loss.
One child, aged nine, who lost their father to suicide, was helped after counsellors supported her mother in telling her what had happened to her father after months of not knowing. Describing the process after the child had been told, her counsellor said: “During the next session, Child A expressed immense relief. Through telling her story and having it recorded and read to her she was able to make sense of what had happened to her and begin to build up hope and resilience. Over subsequent sessions Child A was able to express the relief of knowing what had happened to her father and begin the process of grieving fully.”
Another service user said: “I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity and I feel like the sessions with the counsellor have had a significant impact on helping me, not only survive but move forward positively to better negotiate the challenges I face.”
Previously, Caris Islington has benefitted from church and lottery funding as well as local independent funder Cripplegate.
Abigail Goldsbrough, another trustee, encouraged people to come forward to make a donation, no matter how big or small.
She said: “Like so many other charities we’ve seen less donations from members of the public through the pandemic and with the cost of living crisis that has also had an impact, but with this appeal we could turn Caris around. We could save the charity and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
• To donate, go to www.carisislington.org
