At our club meeting on Wednesday 24th January we were delighted to welcome Sarah and Jonathan from the Pump House Project. Sarah spoke to us about the growth of COGS, the Community Owned Guidance Service, since it was established in 2021 as one of the projects within the Pump House Project.
Our Rotary club members raised funds for COGS with our Christmas tree recycling and we were able to give a donation of £1,000 to COGS for their work with young people in and around Faringdon from 12 to 25 years.
The project started with a discussion between Sarah and a friend who taught counselling at Swindon College. Sarah knew of the need for greater resources to support young people and their mental health, and Nikki had students who had completed their certificate to practice as counsellors but who needed to complete 100 hours of supervised counselling. The service was born from there and some of the counsellors have continued on a voluntary basis after completing their 100 hours.
Businesses and community groups across the town supported COGS as it started, offering rooms for the one-to-one sessions until a dedicated space was secured in 2023.
Sarah explained the growing need for counselling support for young people, in many ways linked to the covid pandemic. Members of COGS work with other local support organisations, such as Abingdon Bridge, Oxfordshire Youth and MIND to share best practice and increase the provision for young people. In 2023, over 80 clients were supported by 24 COGS counsellors. A new mentoring programme is due to start soon and there are other developments planned.
Faringdon & District Rotary is proud to continue its support for COGS. We discussed how we might provide further funding and how we might also get involved in other ways.
Read more about the Pump House Project and about COGS.
