Funding Loss Leads to Staff Redundancies at Cairns Counselling
An Aberdeen-based charity providing free counselling services, Cairns Counselling, has made most of its staff redundant following the loss of vital funding.
Currently, Cairns Counselling offers free sessions to approximately 100 individuals, with over 200 people on its waiting list.
In December, the organisation lost grant support from both the Aberdeen Health and Social Care Partnership and the NHS.
This week, six staff members, including the chief executive, were made redundant, leaving only two employees to manage the charity, which has been operating for 30 years.
Service Suspension and Premises Closure Announced
Cairns Counselling provides face-to-face sessions and telephone support for individuals experiencing various mental health issues across Aberdeen city and Aberdeenshire.
The charity announced it would suspend counselling sessions starting 22 May and close its city centre premises.
Counselling services manager Leasha Esslemont stated:
"The service will not continue in the form it has been. We do have to leave the building where we deliver our counselling face to face.
We really hope to provide support to the people on our waiting list and we are currently looking to secure facilities to enable us to do that."
She further added:
"But we are very much in talks, nothing is solid at the moment."
Increased Demand Following Closure of Mental Health Aberdeen
Cairns Counselling reported a surge in demand for its services after the closure of fellow charity Mental Health Aberdeen (MHA).
This increase led Cairns to reduce the number of free sessions offered per person from 20 to 10, due to the expanded waiting list.
Esslemont explained one of the difficult decisions made by the charity:
"One of the difficult decisions that we have had to make is to actually close our referrals to ensure we weren't holding people on the waiting list for too long when we realised that potentially we might not be able to continue delivering the service."
Response from Aberdeen Health and Social Care Partnership
The Aberdeen Health and Social Care Partnership expressed regret over the closure of Cairns' premises.
A spokesperson commented:
"We recognise that a range of mental health advice and counselling services remains available in Aberdeen.
Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership carefully considers how best to support the local population, ensuring people are clearly signposted to the most appropriate service."
