Future Living Hertford is a small but well established charity. Sandra Conte started Future Living in 2014 in a small church hall, originally supporting addiction clients.
How we have grown……
Since its humble beginnings, thanks to years of hard work and dedication from Sandra and the team, Future Living is now an award winning, highly respected charity within Hertfordshire. We have gradually expanded and now offer a range of services for adults and children who have experienced domestic abuse. As well as this we also offer mental health support for the wider community and a dedicated service for children and young people. But it wouldn’t be possible without the volunteers that support us in our work and help make us the great success we are!
Counselling….
Our counselling service is run mainly by placement counsellors who all generously volunteer their time each week, offering a listening ear to our clients. This, in turn helps them go on to become fully accredited by completing the required number of counselling hours as part of their course. Counselling is an important part of the services we provide. It allows clients an outlet to process what they have been through and ensures that we, as a charity, are supporting their needs.
Some of our counsellors are invited to sit in on a session of our groups, including The Monica programme, enabling them to better understand our work. Their counselling background comes into play as they can better understand the needs of clients.
Offering opportunity…..
Where we can, we like to offer employment opportunities to volunteers. In fact, one of our previous volunteer placement counsellors is now delivering therapy in The Base, our creative therapy service for children and young people. Since becoming fully qualified, Mia realised her passion for working with children so when the opportunity arose, it seemed only natural to welcome her to our staff team.
Amy, who works on reception as well as overseeing other admin work also started at Future Living as a volunteer. She said:
“Future Living has helped me become a better version of myself. When I started volunteering, each week I could feel my confidence growing and it was great to be around people again, something I had been lacking due to taking some time out of work for health reasons. I will be forever thankful to Sandra and Future Living for the opportunities they have given me. I am now in a job I love and get to meet so many inspiring people, which in turn inspires me.”
Over the years, we have seen many volunteers help with projects and events, which can often be a big commitment for a small team to manage on top of our already busy workload! We are always thankful for those who want to help.
Giving back….
Previous clients of Future living often tell us that they want to give back once they have been supported by our services. One of our clients has now become a volunteer mentor in The Monica Programme and helps other women who have experienced domestic abuse. She has also helped deliver vital police training on domestic abuse experiences. She said:
“I will never be able to thank Future Living enough for changing my life but being a mentor and giving back whilst supporting other women is a start!”
Another of our Monica Programme graduates wanted to use her creative skills to help other Monica Programme clients. She uses crafting activities as a way to relax, finding it a soothing hobby and wanted to share its benefits with others! She is therefore going to be starting a women’s craft club on Thursday’s from 6th June, which will be available for Monica clients and will be a great addition to the services on offer.
Thank you…..
A big thank you to all our wonderful volunteers, something we say every year at our AGM, without your help, we would not be where we are today!
Thanks to funding from The National Lottery, we are able to offer more volunteer opportunities.
To find out more about a level 4 placement at Future Living, get in touch by emailing: [email protected]
