Charity Falling Short of its 40k Appeal

Signpost charity is coming to the end of its 40th anniversary this summer and has fallen short of its 40k appeal.

Signpost charity is coming to the end of its 40th anniversary this summer and has fallen short of its 40k appeal.

To celebrate its 40 years, Signpost appealed to raise £40,000 so that it can survive current funding cuts and continue improving.

However, the charity, which offers help for young people in emotional and psychological need, is fast approaching the end of its anniversary and is struggling to achieve this target.

William Allen, the Manager of Signpost, said: “Right now, we’re approaching the £25,000 mark, which is good. It was an ambitious target, but it would be good to get a boost and pass £30,000 before the end of the 40th anniversary period.”

After publishing losses of over £17,000 in its 2012-13 annual report, Signpost has now returned to surplus with a turnover of about £125,000. 

According to the report, this is due to a brand new strategy which has allowed the charity to overcome its struggles and find new successes.

Mr Allen said: “The main thing is we have overcome the losses caused by funding cuts following the banking crisis in 2008.  We’ve completely changed our financial model. We’re now more community focused and have turned things around so we have returned to making surpluses.

“More than that, we’ve actually grown! We now offer 50% more counselling sessions. I would say it is a huge success story. We turned a crisis into a celebration.”

The charity, founded in 1973, has since helped counsel over 5,000 young people in emotional and psychological need.

William Allen believes it is by being there for young people when it counted that has made their 40th year a successful one.

He said: “We offer young people a safe and supportive listening environment where they can engage in free, confidential therapeutic services, which responds to their needs. We’ve been successful this year because we were there when young people most needed our help.”

Signpost was mainly centred on Watford, but now reaches out to people in the Three Rivers, Hertsmere and Dacorum districts as well.

Mr. Allen looks forward to the future and believes there are improvements to be made. He said: “The vision for the future is firstly, to be much more driven by young people. We have young people involved in project design, more involved in our youth parliament, and more involved in our promotion.

“Secondly, we want to look at ways to improve our services for young people. We want to provide higher quality services that are accessible by all.”

The 40k appeal is still ongoing and is open for donations.

If you would like to donate, contact signpost on 01923 239495 or visitwww.signpostcounselling.co.uk

(Written by: Isaac Ouro-Gnao)