School Counselling Service (360G-ocf-a061600000lvmlw)

Refugee Resource provides a unique therapeutic service for refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants in Oxfordshire. We provide a place of safety and welcome for up to 250 clients each year, some of whom require specialist counselling to heal from trauma, and others who participate in our range of therapeutic services aimed at helping people to move from a position of being isolated and traumatised to inclusion within the wider community. Refugee Resource is the only service in Oxfordshire to cater effectively for the holistic care and long-term therapeutic needs of these vulnerable groups. To help meet these needs we provide the following services: • Counselling • Mentoring and coaching • Employment advice and support, including bursary fund • A women’s project • A men’s service • Advice and advocacy service- Engaging young people is a challenge: the often chaotic nature of their lives makes it hard for them to remember appointments during the day, and if these are outside of school during school hours it can be disruptive to their education. - Refugee Resource is currently unable to provide individual therapeutic support to children under 12. - Demand for our counselling services outstrips our capacity to meet this need: currently we have a waiting list of around 4-6 months. Over a third of those waiting (7 young people) are aged under 19. - We have limited training capacity. - Closure of The Children’s Society in Oxford has left a gap in the provision of specialist counselling support for refugee and migrant young people in schools. - A school-based counselling service would strengthen our capacity to deliver effective therapy for young people, that is accessible and in a familiar and supported environment. This leads to better engagement with counselling and with education. It would build new working partnerships between Refugee Resource and schools. - Training and consultation support offers a sustainable way to support schools strengthen their own understanding and capacity to support young refugee and migrants and their families. This facilitates integration within the school and the wider community. - Employing the expertise of an experienced child psychotherapist would enhance capacity of counselling team to support the specific needs of children and young people, including those aged under 12. - Broadening our remit to working with children may help us to access more diverse funding streams and increase unrestricted funding through public support.