Help for an Art Psychotherapist

                                                                       Helping Psychotherapists Help Others
                                                                              near #Glastonbury in Somerset

                                                                                      @arttherapysomerset


Bridget is an amazing woman who just wants to provide vital art psychotherapy and counselling to children suffering from poor mental health. Many of these youngsters have been psychologically affected by life under lockdown and will need professional help for months, or even years to come. But the Covid19 pandemic has robbed Bridget of the ability to provide this essential service. Because she has been unable to work, she can no longer afford to safely equip her counselling rooms in order to offer art therapy to those who need her help.

Bridget Rees is an Art Therapist, trained to the highest standards in the UK. She is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and is a member of the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT). You might think that with her critically-needed skills, she would be working right through the current crisis. We keep hearing in the media that many children are struggling with their mental health and how vital it is that they get the support they need. But Bridget’s work relies on face-to-face counselling sessions; art psychotherapy isn’t something that can readily be undertaken through a computer screen.

Bridget is one of the 3-5 million people in the UK who didn’t qualify for the Self Employed Income Support Scheme or other forms of government help for the self-employed and small businesses. She is one of the #ExcludedUK who have slipped through the gaps and received no government help at all. And even though she has researched nearly 200 sources of funding support or grants, she doesn't seem to be eligible.

Because Bridget has been unable to work during lock-down, her income has disappeared and she is struggling to support her young daughter.  As a single mum, Bridget has been relying on a local food bank to feed her family and she is eternally grateful for the help she has been receiving.

But what she really needs now is financial aid to safely equip the Art Psychotherapy rooms (near #Glastonbury in Somerset) she was preparing before lockdown so that she can get back to work when she is allowed to, in September. Then she will be able to help youngsters who have been psychologically affected during the Covid19 crisis, and also support her own family. This funding page seems to be her best option.

Kitting out her therapy rooms with PPE, vinyl flooring that can be kept clean and hygienic, and enough art equipment so that no child has to share and can stay physically healthy and safe shouldn’t cost the earth, and it doesn’t. But when you receive no grant aid and are ineligible for furlough then the few thousand pounds that’s needed is out of reach.

Target          Would pay for                                                                                    Running Total
                                                 
£300            PPE and infection control                                                            £300
£600            New furniture including storage units, seating etc       £900  
£750           10 individual art materials packs @£75 each                    £1,650 
£1,000        New vinyl floor including fitting costs                                  £2,650
£600           1st month's rent                                                                                 £3,250
£600           2nd month's rent                                                                                £3,850
£600           3rd month's rent                                                                                 £4,450

Bridget would be reluctant to set up this page herself, because she knows that so many people are going through far worse in these unkind times. There is no doubt in our minds that her professional skills are essential for the mental health of our most troubled young people. Once Covid19 begins to diminish and becomes a fading memory for most, it is Bridget who will continue to be on the front line, helping to pick up the pieces of shattered lives and providing the expertise so desperately needed.

Thank you for reading this. Every pound you donate is an investment in a highly deserving professional, and in the mental health of the next generation.

Art Therapy helps youngsters to explore thoughts and feelings that can be almost impossible for young minds to articulate. When things are just too difficult to say, then expressing those feelings in art form can provide the key to finding a way through tough and traumatising experiences, and open a doorway to a more positive future. These links will explain more about the work of an Art Therapist:


For more on Bridget: bridgetrees.co.uk 

BAAT: https://www.baat.org/About-Art-Therapy

MIND: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/arts-and-creative-therapies/about-arts-and-creative-therapies/

Please support on social media the campaigns for those many workers who have been excluded from Government support during the lock-down:

#arttherapy and #counsellingforchildren and #coronaviruslockdown and #covid-19

#ExcludedUK and @Excluded UK

#Forgottenfreelancers

#GapsInSupport