A charity focussed on the wellbeing of young people

Tor Support is a small Okehampton-based charity providing a much-needed lifeline for the young people in the town.

Established in 2009, Tor Support Services (TSS) is focused on providing free, confidential counselling for young people (5 to 25) who live in Okehampton and the surrounding villages — and in a typical year it supports around 120 young clients in crisis, delivering well over 1,000 counselling sessions.

Sophie Goodwin-Hughes, a trustee of TSS, said: ‘These local young people are dealing with issues ranging from anxiety and depression, self-harming, behavioural issues, child abuse, relationship problems and mental health conditions through to substance misuse, gender dysphoria and even suicidal ideation. In consequence, a number also have poor school attendance resulting in a lack of educational achievement or hindered learning which can lead to poorer life chances.’

In 2011 TSS registered as a charity and re-registered as a charitable incorporated organisation in 2015 and is committed to a secure and sustainable long-term future.

Counselling is provided by a team of employed and volunteer counsellors, who have undertaken extensive training in counselling or psychotherapy, and participate in on-going continuing professional development.

‘We are based alongside Okehampton College and work closely with all the local schools, medical centres and youth facilities,’ said Sophie. ‘Our referrals come from all these sources as well as from parents and a number of young people self-refer. Our small team of staff and paid and volunteer counsellors offer each individual up to eight counselling sessions.’

TSS has a team of around 16 people, including 5 volunteers, all supported by a board of trustees, who look out for the wellbeing of local young people.

‘There is nothing else like TSS,’ added Sophie. There is a huge need for our service as the NHS CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) has limited capacity and can only see only those very few children and young people with very severe mental health problems. Tor Support exists to help those who do not fulfil CAMHS strict criteria. We offer around eight sessions with the same counsellor in order to develop a relationship. We offer around eight free sessions with the same counsellor and work with each child or young person to help them understand their situation and build the strategies and resilience to help them cope in future.

Despite having the support of many local organisations and charities such as OUC TSS is still struggling with funding but thanks to a local supermarket chain funds could soon be on their way to the charity.

‘In these difficult times we are experiencing both a significant increase in demand for counselling and a major increase in the level of competition we face for funding from our more usual sources so we were absolutely delighted to hear that Okehampton Co-Op has chosen us as one of their nominated charities for 2022. 

‘In order for us to benefit from this generosity Co-Op customers must present their card at the checkout and choose Tor Support as their charity. Thank you so much in advance for your support, it means the world both to us as a charity and to all the children and young people who desperately need our support in these challenging times.’