Equality charity launches lockdown counselling service

Saturday 11 April 2020

A local diversity charity has launched a free counselling service to help islanders suffering stress, anxiety, depression or other mental health problems while in lockdown.

Liberate will be offering three sessions of one hour per week over video link or telephone due to anticipated demand of their new service.

It comes as, like many other charities’, Liberate’s income for 2020 dropped off a cliff edge three weeks ago.

Since then, the charity, whose mission is to support those who identify as part of a minority or visible minority group living in the Channel Islands, has been looking for ways in which it can use its resources to support the island’s efforts to manage covid-19.

“We had been working on a new counselling offering as part of our HIV work and it was ready to launch when the coronavirus outbreak arrived in Jersey,” Vic Tanner Davy, CEO of Liberate, explained.

“As we watched the news and heard stories from people struggling with various mental health issues due to the crisis, we realised this was the service that we could repurpose to respond to the island wide effort.”

Pictured: The counselling service will be offered to anyone who needs it for free.

The new service will be offered to anyone who needs it for free. Liberate said they aim to assist those experiencing stress, anxiety, panic, depression, grief and other mental health issues due to the conditions imposed by the crisis, such as:

• Change in routine;
• Separation from family and friends;
• Loss of freedom;
• Being quarantined in a home that is unsafe or hostile;
• Easier access at home to addictive substances;
• Taking on more care responsibilities due to a lack of access to regular care for a family member with a disability;
• Lack of employment/boredom;
• Job insecurity;
• Debt;
• Uncertainty over own disease status;
• Concern about loved ones being infected;
• And bereavement.

Liberate hopes that the addition of extra mental health support into Jersey’s system at a low level will provide capacity to mental health professionals higher up the chain to deal with more acute cases. 

In particular, the ability for mental health professionals in the Health Service to support their colleagues on the frontline, who will need help in the coming weeks to cope with stressors including home pressures, workplace stress and traumatic exposure.

CLICK HERE to sign up for the service.