Huge Thank You to Sunderland Counselling Service for Building Self Belief’s Award
I was delighted to be a guest at Sunderland Counselling Services AGM on 30th November 2023 and help them celebrate their 40th anniversary. As CEO of Building Self-Belief, it was a great opportunity to see the timeline of how SCS has developed and evolved over the past 40 years. It was an invaluable lesson in how to adapt to survive in the ever-changing charity sector.
Lessons in Growth
The Sunderland Counselling Service were established in 1983, an era in the Northeast that is defined by deindustrialisation and mass unemployment. They began as a bereavement service and they have branched into many different services and approaches since then. They offer a great insight into the importance of embracing change, the need to be financially viable – all while delivering a fabulous service to an increasingly needy population.
Why Building Self-Belief?
Their remit for selecting the recipients of their 40th Anniversary Award was to select a charity from each of the Northeast areas that they serve. We are delighted to be the recipient of the award for Co Durham. We are using their award of £10,000 towards providing services to hard-to-reach communities- in this case Tow Law in Co Durham. The programmes we are delivering at Tow Law are a youth club with hot food, and a job club to support adults back to work. SCS’s Chair, Eileen Watt, told me how rewarding it was for them as a board to have the opportunity to select five charities to give a grant to and how liberating this felt to be able to help other charities in such a meaningful way.
A Generous Invite
As part of the SCS AGM programme, I was invited to speak and share information about Building Self-Belief and the work we do. Delivering such a speech is most generous offer as it allows us to share our message and engage with professionals about our services to a much wider and more varied audience.
The Beauty of Collaboration
In a further example of the beauty of collaboration, to support one of the adults at the Tow Law job club, funded by SCS, we used the Household Fund from the Co Durham Community Foundation to buy an attendee a bike, a helmet, and high viz jacket. What this fund has enabled us to do, is not only advise people about work, but to literally give them the means of getting employment by providing them with the transport they need and can rely on.
In a shared post on Facebook, the Co Durham Community Foundation state; ‘Schemes like this one change lives today and enrich the for tomorrow. Breaking down the barrier of a commuting opens up more choice when it comes to job hunting, gives people more freedom and independence,’
Working Together
The general feeling in the Northeast is that 40 years ago in 1983, things were pretty desperate, but there is a new sense of desperation, today. One thing that I have learnt is that working together is ultimately, more efficient, more effective and most heart-warming.

Consett Heritage Project / March 8th, 2024
Jean Simmons - Consett Heritage Podcast
Our volunteer, Maisie Dobson, conducts an interview with her great-grandma, Jean Simmons, aged 96, discussing life and work in Consett during the peak of the Consett Steelworks era. During the conversation, Jean mentions a royal visit to the steelworks, prompting Maisie to enquire about its accuracy. Upon researching, we discovered that the event did indeed occur. Listen in to enjoy this unique recording, offering insights into the social history of Consett.

Benfieldside Community Garden / October 21st, 2024
Duncan Barnett - Volunteer Podcast
Take a listen and discover the origins of our very own community garden. As a district councillor representing Benfieldside in the 1990s, listen to Duncan Barnett's description of the establishment of a community garden in Benfieldside, the very garden that we now call Benfieldside Community Garden.

Consett Heritage Project / August 30th, 2023
Voices of Consett - Mick
Mick is 86, with a long family history in Consett. All of his family bar one lives in Consett, Blackhill and Leadgate and he has lots of grandchildren living in Consett too. His family background in Consett goes back years and years!