Funding boost for Lincoln counselling organisation
Counsellors are celebrating a £60,000 “super boost” which has allowed them to double the size of their Lincoln base.
NWCH has been awarded the money by The Key Fund and unlocked the Hub’s chief executive/co-founder Naomi Watkins and co-founder Alex Parkin’s dream of creating more counselling rooms and leasing a second building for use as a dedicated training centre.
The package of blended funding – made up of £50,000 in loan finance and a £10,000 grant – will allow the community interest company to achieve its ambitions of helping more people, because the training centre will generate a fresh source of income for the future sustainability of the enterprise.
Twenty-five people, including 18 counsellors, now work out of the Hub, which is seeing a rising demand for its services.
Watkins said: “We are absolutely thrilled with the support received from The Key Fund. This is vital to our plans to grow and help more individuals and families, as well as to train more people for our profession.
“To receive such important backing less than a year after we opened our doors is amazing. It highlights The Key Fund’s confidence in our business plans.”
News of the funding comes just months after Watkins and Parkin received a £25,000 grant from The Bromhead Medical Charity for the Hub’s Acorn project, which aims to help rebuild young lives blighted by sexual abuse or rape.
The Key Fund’s investment manager – East Region Asha Karbhari said: “It was a pleasure working with Naomi and Alex in putting their proposal [for funding] together, seeing the great work achieved in such a short time frame and the potential social impact the enterprise has the ability to achieve going forward.”
