Wellspring Therapy and Training, the Harrogate-based counselling and training centre, is about to celebrate its 20th birthday.
The charity provides affordable short and long-term counselling for people in the Harrogate district.
Founded in 2003, it now faces unprecedented demand for its help tackling issues such as mental health and depression.
The Rt Rev Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds and a patron of Wellspring, is leasing a service at St Andrew’s Church in Starbeck on Sunday, October 15.
Wellspring is also holding a fundraising dinner at the Crown Hotel in Harrogate on Friday November 17.
Emily Fullarton, executive director of Wellspring, said:
“This is a very special year for us. These two exciting events are celebrating how a small local charity has survived and thrived during the past 20 years and how we have tackled the problem of increasing poor mental health, anxiety and depression, which has threatened to overwhelm the NHS.
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Founding director Elaine Wainaina set up Wellspring as a Christian-based organisation to help those struggling with anxiety and depression but it soon extended its services to everyone who needed them.
Wellspring moved from a terraced house in Prospect Road, Starbeck into nearby St Andrew’s Vicarage after it was bought for the charity by the Bramall Foundation.
This has enabled the organisation to expand its services in the Harrogate area since 2018 and to relieve the burden on the NHS.
Wellspring hopes to counsel 170 this year and 220 by the end of 2025. It helps children as young as eight.
Ms Fullarton said:
“In the UK, one in four people will experience a mental health issue at least once in their lifetime. According to local research, many people in Harrogate assume because it is a ‘nice town’ people don’t struggle with these issues. That simply isn’t true. There is a huge demand in Harrogate for our services and it’s increasing.
“What makes Wellspring’s work unique in is that we offer affordable long-term, open-ended counselling where needed. Unfortunately, this type of therapy is not currently widely available from the NHS. Most private counselling typically costs between £50 or more for each session, but many of our clients are unable to afford this.”
Harrogate wellness centre celebrates 20 years on Duchy Road
The Yorkshire Centre for Wellbeing is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month.
The business is the longest-standing yoga and pilates studio in Harrogate, having opened on Duchy Road in 2003.
The owners said opening the studio was a “big financial risk at the time”.
However, founder Anne-Marie Burford believes “post-covid anxieties” caused a surge in prioritising health and boosted the credibility of yoga and pilates, as well as causing a shift in attitudes towards them.
She said:
“Yoga in the West can often be about images, especially now a lot of celebrities do it.
“That isn’t the true form of yoga – we just want to support health and wellbeing”.
Ms Burford also said social media has “probably caused the most significant change” in attitudes towards wellbeing.
The studio centres on being entirely holistic and focusses on incorporating Ayurveda, a traditional Indian healing therapy, into the yoga, pilates and tai chi classes.
The centre also “places focus on the spiritual aspect of wellbeing”, including soul coaching, reiki, and various Eastern-style massages.
Staff members have extensive spiritual and physical training, including one-to-one training with Deepak Chopra, as well as a South Asian spiritual pilgrimage. The business also offers yoga retreats to members, both nationally and abroad.
James Burford, one of the teachers at the wellness centre, said:
“I feel very encouraged by the support we already receive form our students, many of whom I consider friends, and the increase in number of students joining and connecting with our centre over the last few years“.
Yorkshire Centre for Wellbeing is holding an anniversary celebration on Saturday, April 16, with pop-up classes, afternoon tea and live music. Full details are on its Instagram feed.
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Harrogate bus firm prepares to mark 20 years this weekend
A day of free bus rides and a gathering of old vehicles will be held this weekend to mark the 20th anniversary of a local business.
Connexions buses was founded in 2002 by Craig and Julie Temple, who still run the company today.
To celebrate the occasion, Connexions is hosting a running day at Wetherby Racecourse on Sunday, with modern and vintage buses on show. The oldest will be from 1948, with a number from the following decades and one brand-new bus.
Mr Temple said:
“It’s the first time we’ve done anything like this, but as it’s our 20th anniversary I thought we would make a bit of an effort.”
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Having run the business for two decades, Mr Temple said the last few years have been among the most challenging.
As the company began its recovery from the covid pandemic, while an industry shortage of drivers has put extra pressure on.
“Covid has a lot to answer for. It made people realise they could live on less money or they didn’t want to work as much and preferred their time at home with family.
“People have had nearly a year off driving and it’s appalling how rude and aggressive a lot of people are on the roads now. We see it every day.
“When drivers have left us, it’s not for a driving job somewhere else, it’s to do something totally different.”
Rising costs and expectations
Meanwhile, technology has been revolutionised in the last 20 years, while Mr Temple said customer expectations have also risen significantly.
In the last few months, fuel prices have added to the challenges facing the company. Mr Temple said:
“Fuel prices have massively affected us. We’re a relatively small operation – we have a fleet of 40 vehicles.
“We are paying nearly £12,000 a week more than nine months ago.
“It’s incredibly hard because the customers are the only place it can come from. We’re a good alternative to having to pay more for the car fuel, but us having to put our prices up isn’t helping.
“We get what’s called the Bus Service Operators Grant, a subsidy on the fuel, but it’s 10 or 15 years since it was changed, despite the fuel price having increased. It isn’t helping us very much.”
Setting aside the challenges they face, Sunday will be a day of celebration Craig and his team – including his 19-year-old son, who has joined the family firm as a driver.
Free shuttle buses will run every half hour from Harrogate railway station to Wetherby and the racecourse, then on to York.
The gates will be open from 10am to 4pm and anyone is welcome to attend free.