Arlington logoA homeless accommodation and support service provider has secured funding to extend its psychotherapy service.

Arlington has secured more than £12,000 from charity StreetSmart to extend its in-house psychotherapy service at its hostel in Camden. This will provide a further 52 days – one day a week for one year – of therapy for customers.

Mainstream counselling is often not suitable for homeless people and they can face various barriers to accessing available services within the community, including costs and waiting times of up to a year. Recognising the need for an alternative solution, Arlington established its own programme for customers.

Currently delivered once a week at the hostel, the service has helped 23 residents through personal challenges, such as anxiety, depression and minor mental health issues since its launch in September 2013. The new funding will ensure more residents can benefit from this kind of specialist support.

Robert, a customer at Arlington, has suffered from severe long-term depression and credits Arlington’s counselling service for building his confidence and changing his outlook on life.

“Since I’ve come to Arlington I’ve really been motivated to progress,” he said. “I’m feeling a lot more positive about things. The counselling service is fantastic and the counsellor is a remarkable person. I’d highly recommend having a service like this in all hostels to help people who have gone through traumas in their life.”

Jason Pryce-Kennedy, head of homelessness at Arlington, said: “Having a dedicated in-house counselling service is certainly not common practice in a homeless hostel. With this additional funding we can help even more customers to get therapy quickly and easily so they can overcome their personal challenges and move on with their lives.

“We recognise the significance of this service and would like to thank StreetSmart for backing this initiative. I hope that what we’ve done will strongly encourage other supported housing providers to offer the same kind of service to their customers.”

Psychotherapist Hannah Gallager, who delivers the service at Arlington, added: “Since providing the counselling I have been able to see how much the residents have benefited from the service. It has given them a confidential space to really offload and also raise their self-esteem. I feel very humbled and privileged that the residents have allowed me into their inner world. The funding secured for the service shows just how much StreetSmart believes in the work we are doing.”