Off The Record Youth Counselling
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 The current logo | |
| Abbreviation | OTR |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1994 |
| Founded at | Croydon |
| Legal status | Registered charity |
Region | Croydon, Merton and Sutton |
| Services | Counselling |
| Membership | Youth Access, BACP |
Key people | Founder: Karen Stott |
| Website | www.talkofftherecord.org |
Off the Record (OTR) Youth Counselling[1] is a mental health charity working across the London Boroughs of Croydon, Merton and Sutton which provides a range of free support services for young people. It celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2019.
Founded in Croydon in 1994 to provide free, independent and professional counselling for 14 – 25-year-olds, the charity expanded over the years to include further areas of work including mental health work in BME communities; a young carers service; a specialist counselling service for young refugees, online counselling, workshops and mental health support in schools.
Since 2019, Off The Record's counselling service in Merton operates in Vestry Hall.
Memberships
[edit]Off the Record is a member of Youth Access, the national membership organisation for youth information, advice and counselling services (YIACS),[2][3][4] and is a BACP-accredited service.[5]
Funding
[edit]Off The Record is supported by Croydon, Sutton & Merton local authorities and local Clinical Commissioning Groups as well as a range of charitable funders including Comic Relief[6] and the Wimbledon Foundation.[7] At the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, Off the Record were selected to perform the coin toss for the Men's Singles Finals.[8]
In 2018, Travis Perkins marked the opening of a new branch in Beddington Lane, Croydon by donating £250 to Off the Record.[9]
Partnerships
[edit]In 2021, Off the Record launched a project with London Southbank University (LSBU) and the Croydon BME Forum to train London barbershops to test blood pressure in a UK-first project.[10][11][12][13]
Awards
[edit]In 2019, Off The Record was one of ten charities selected from more than 370 organisations across the UK to win a GSK IMPACT Award for outstanding contributions to improving the UK's health and wellbeing.[14] The award is run in partnership with The King's Fund.
References
[edit]- ^ ""OFF THE RECORD" YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON". Charity Commission.
- ^ "#NoTrim Challenge - Encouraging young men to embrace their lockdown hair growth". Youth Access.
- ^ "DigiTalk". Youth Access.
- ^ "DigiTalk Project". Youth Access.
- ^ "Innovative young people's counselling service wins impact award". BACP.
- ^ "COMIC RELIEF INVESTS £3.2M IN SERVICES TO IMPROVE THE MENTAL HEALTH OF YOUNG MEN". Comic Relief.
- ^ "Health & Wellbeing Fund". Wimbledon.
- ^ "Introducing Sean Seresinhe | Men's Singles Final Coin Toss". YouTube.
- ^ "Travis Perkins opens new branch in Croydon". Sutton & Croydon Guardian.
- ^ "London barbershops trained to test blood pressure in UK-first project". LSBU.
- ^ "London barbers to test blood pressure in health campaign". BBC.
- ^ "Barbers trained to test blood pressure in health campaign for Black and Asian men". The Independent.
- ^ "Croydon barbers to offer free blood pressure tests". Croydon Guardian.
- ^ "2019 GSK IMPACT Awards: Off the Record Youth Counselling Croydon". The King's Fund.