What our project involves:

Support to those affected by Trauma, Loss and Personal Crisis concentrating on Practical and Emotional Support, Advocacy, Group Support and Counselling, Holistic Therapies and Psychotherapies.

What our Project achieves:

Due to generous donations and our committed Fundraisers and the Big Lottery Awards 4 All Grant we have been able to provide one to one counselling, telephone counselling and holistic therapies using our volunteer and paid sessional counsellors and therapists.
These support services allow the counsellor and therapist to assess individual need and allocate dedicated time to everyone using Person-Centered Counselling (PCT) Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Alternative (Holistic) Therapies.
These therapeutic techniques help individuals manage and understand the effects of significant change, loss and grief.

Service User Feedback:

From the general feedback and the regular attendance by service users they have commented that they have benefitted from an increase in their self-esteem, have increased confidence and motivation that has allowed them to interact socially and widen their networks. With the level of support they received from the Manda Centre they felt they were able to deal with difficult issues such as the legal system and former areas of concern including accessing other services. The service users have also stated that their skills have increased and that they are now able to identify their own needs to consider a range of solutions to make positive changes in their lives.

The benefits of the project:

The staff within the Manda Centre are committed to this project due to their personal experiences and past involvement providing support to those affected by Murder, Culpable Homicide and Suicide and Personal Crisis.
Working with service users that had experienced grief within these categories identified that there were a vast number of people whose support needs were not being met or supported.
Staff within the Manda Centre understand that the loss these service users are experiencing is also about meaningful and significant attachment and is not be openly acknowledged, socially validated or publicly mourned.

How people benefit from The Manda project:

The Manda Centre works in partnership with other organisation and charities by sharing information with other support services. It is hoped that this information will help strengthen liaisons and knowledge between agencies as to what works and assist in the signposting between agencies for the benefit of service users whilst protecting their anonymity in line with data protection or have their consent to share their information. The links between agencies should be transparent and highlight communal benefits.

Increase people’s skills and life chances:

The support services provided by the Manda Centre assists our service users to increase their life skills by using the techniques they have gained during their counselling, therapies and support. It encourages and empowers them to identify their own needs and consider a range of solutions to make positive changes in their lives. It will help improve their life chances by raising their self-esteem and increase their confidence and improved motivation to interact with social and other networks as well as increasing their coping skills to promote resilience. Service users will be more able to deal with many related issues such as the legal system and areas of concern which they can process over the short, medium and longer term.
It will assist them to return to work quicker and to deal with day to day issues in a more competent way.

Improve our local area for people to enjoy:

Service users are encouraged to discuss and be signposted to try a range of activities (such as- walking groups for example) that will not only increase their skills but will also help to alleviate feelings of isolation and loneliness. This will allow them to integrate into society and interact with social and other networks and so enjoy their local area by integrating back into society and enjoy sharing experiences with others