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Lisa Head is the Communications & Engagement Manager, she has been at the charity Area 43 since 2017. She joined the organisation as a Senior Youth Support Worker, then moved to Centre Manager, Services Manager and Operations Manager, before commencing her current role. Area 43 provides safe spaces, information, support, counselling and training to young people aged 11 – 25 at their flagship Youth Café, Depot in Cardigan in West Wales. Their counselling services span the whole of the mid and west Wales area supporting children and young people aged 3 – 30.
In October 2023 Area 43 became the new provider of Independent School and Community Based Counselling Services for Powys.
I recently met up with Lisa to find out more about the work of Area 43.
What drew you to your role at Area 43?
It’s a long story. I am a single parent of 2 girls, one of which was particularly challenging when she was younger. They are both in their 20s now, but when they were little, I was so disillusioned by the lack of support available to children, young people and their families that I embarked on an Open University degree to learn how to support my children better. It began as something I was doing for my own personal interest, but the more I learned, the more I realised I could do to help others in my community.
In 2011, I set up a youth club in the village where I lived, the young people wanted to launch the club with a mini music festival, so they worked with me to plan, coordinate and manage the event. I had a background in Arts Marketing, so I had the marketing and events management knowledge and plenty of contacts who were happy to perform. We attracted over 1000 visitors and the youth club went from strength to strength. I ran the club for about 8 years and over that time we expanded on the music festival idea to re-establish a village carnival, with young people in the lead. We ran that event 3 times.
I had known about the work of Area 43 for a long time, but at that time they only worked with 16 – 25 year olds and my children were much younger. However, when I saw the Senior Youth Support Worker role advertised early in 2017, I jumped at the opportunity to join the team and put all my learning and experience into practice.
During the lockdowns of the Covid pandemic, Area 43 took the opportunity to conduct a large-scale consultation with young people in the Ceredigion area to ask them what they felt they needed in Cardigan. They overwhelmingly told us that they needed safe spaces and an affordable café, where they could hang out and socialise without the pressure of having to spend money or feeling that they are not welcome… And so, Depot was the result.
It’s a long story. I am a single parent of 2 girls, one of which was particularly challenging when she was younger. They are both in their 20s now, but when they were little, I was so disillusioned by the lack of support available to children, young people and their families that I embarked on an Open University degree to learn how to support my children better. It began as something I was doing for my own personal interest, but the more I learned, the more I realised I could do to help others in my community.
In 2011, I set up a youth club in the village where I lived, the young people wanted to launch the club with a mini music festival, so they worked with me to plan, coordinate and manage the event. I had a background in Arts Marketing, so I had the marketing and events management knowledge and plenty of contacts who were happy to perform. We attracted over 1000 visitors and the youth club went from strength to strength. I ran the club for about 8 years and over that time we expanded on the music festival idea to re-establish a village carnival, with young people in the lead. We ran that event 3 times.
I had known about the work of Area 43 for a long time, but at that time they only worked with 16 – 25 year olds and my children were much younger. However, when I saw the Senior Youth Support Worker role advertised early in 2017, I jumped at the opportunity to join the team and put all my learning and experience into practice.
During the lockdowns of the Covid pandemic, Area 43 took the opportunity to conduct a large-scale consultation with young people in the Ceredigion area to ask them what they felt they needed in Cardigan. They overwhelmingly told us that they needed safe spaces and an affordable café, where they could hang out and socialise without the pressure of having to spend money or feeling that they are not welcome… And so, Depot was the result.
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Tell us briefly how Area 43 came about
Area 43 was born out of a community needs-led project in 1996. Back then there were 30 odd pubs in Cardigan and all the young people were hanging around playing pool and there were issues with them not going to school or college. It was identified that they really needed a place to go to that was not alcohol-fuelled or potentially putting them at risk. A group came together to put in a lottery bid to establish Cardigan Youth Project. They were successful in receiving lottery money and it snowballed from there.
From the early days, we had volunteers and eventually staff – including counsellors and support workers. We were quite early in offering counselling to young disadvantaged people in this area. When it became statutory law in Wales to offer counselling in schools in 2008 we were successful in tendering for a couple of those contracts because of this experience, and have held on to most of those ever since.
We now deliver services throughout Powys, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion and will see in the region of 5000+ individuals this year.
There are a total of 30 counsellors and therapists in Powys and another 28 covering West Wales. When Area 43 recently took over the contract from Kooth, most of the staff transferred over, so they all have plenty of experience with young people in the Powys area.
How can counselling help children and young people who may be struggling with their mental health?
Area 43’s counselling service is delivered by highly trained professionals and managed by people who fully understand the values, aims and limitations of counselling.
Counselling can allow a space for children and young people where they feel they are not judged and offers the opportunity to increase self-awareness, develop personal resources and understand their problems. It is a skilled way of helping those with personal, emotional and developmental issues or difficulties that takes place in a safe and confidential environment. This allows them to explore, discover and embed strategies to cope with change and live in a more satisfying, resourceful way.
By helping children and young people to share their worries and concerns with a counsellor or therapist, the young person can gain a better understanding of themselves, making sense of what they are experiencing, which helps them gain clarity and build resilience within themselves.
How is the school counselling going in Powys and what do you offer?
Thanks to the great team that Area 43 inherited from the previous provider, our service is running seamlessly. Area 43 will continue to provide counselling services for all eligible young people to the age of 25. The Powys model works slightly differently from the west Wales model, but essentially there are counsellors and therapists in all the secondary school settings and selected primaries.
Counselling is predominantly delivered face to face with the flexibility for online provision for those aged 10 – 19 (year 6 to Year 13) in education settings, but there is also an option for up to 25 year-olds to access counselling support either online or in the community.
All young people in Powys up to age 25 are eligible to access the counselling service.
We have 20 counsellors and therapists available for 37 days per week in secondary schools, 11 counsellors and therapists based in 15 of the primary school settings and we provide at least 3 days per week of online or community counselling sessions.
Area 43 was born out of a community needs-led project in 1996. Back then there were 30 odd pubs in Cardigan and all the young people were hanging around playing pool and there were issues with them not going to school or college. It was identified that they really needed a place to go to that was not alcohol-fuelled or potentially putting them at risk. A group came together to put in a lottery bid to establish Cardigan Youth Project. They were successful in receiving lottery money and it snowballed from there.
From the early days, we had volunteers and eventually staff – including counsellors and support workers. We were quite early in offering counselling to young disadvantaged people in this area. When it became statutory law in Wales to offer counselling in schools in 2008 we were successful in tendering for a couple of those contracts because of this experience, and have held on to most of those ever since.
We now deliver services throughout Powys, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion and will see in the region of 5000+ individuals this year.
There are a total of 30 counsellors and therapists in Powys and another 28 covering West Wales. When Area 43 recently took over the contract from Kooth, most of the staff transferred over, so they all have plenty of experience with young people in the Powys area.
How can counselling help children and young people who may be struggling with their mental health?
Area 43’s counselling service is delivered by highly trained professionals and managed by people who fully understand the values, aims and limitations of counselling.
Counselling can allow a space for children and young people where they feel they are not judged and offers the opportunity to increase self-awareness, develop personal resources and understand their problems. It is a skilled way of helping those with personal, emotional and developmental issues or difficulties that takes place in a safe and confidential environment. This allows them to explore, discover and embed strategies to cope with change and live in a more satisfying, resourceful way.
By helping children and young people to share their worries and concerns with a counsellor or therapist, the young person can gain a better understanding of themselves, making sense of what they are experiencing, which helps them gain clarity and build resilience within themselves.
How is the school counselling going in Powys and what do you offer?
Thanks to the great team that Area 43 inherited from the previous provider, our service is running seamlessly. Area 43 will continue to provide counselling services for all eligible young people to the age of 25. The Powys model works slightly differently from the west Wales model, but essentially there are counsellors and therapists in all the secondary school settings and selected primaries.
Counselling is predominantly delivered face to face with the flexibility for online provision for those aged 10 – 19 (year 6 to Year 13) in education settings, but there is also an option for up to 25 year-olds to access counselling support either online or in the community.
All young people in Powys up to age 25 are eligible to access the counselling service.
We have 20 counsellors and therapists available for 37 days per week in secondary schools, 11 counsellors and therapists based in 15 of the primary school settings and we provide at least 3 days per week of online or community counselling sessions.
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How are children and young people in Powys referred for counselling support?
Whilst parents and professionals can use our referral forms, any young person can register in exactly the same way and we encourage self-referral. It helps young people to feel ownership of the counselling support and let’s be honest, counselling or therapy isn’t something that can be done to somebody, it’s a meaningful, emotional process that takes a lot of commitment and vulnerability.
Referral forms, support resources and counselling information to help children, young people, parents and education staff to have discussions about counselling and decide whether it is suitable for them can be accessed through the Area 43 website page Powys Counselling.
Whilst parents and professionals can use our referral forms, any young person can register in exactly the same way and we encourage self-referral. It helps young people to feel ownership of the counselling support and let’s be honest, counselling or therapy isn’t something that can be done to somebody, it’s a meaningful, emotional process that takes a lot of commitment and vulnerability.
Referral forms, support resources and counselling information to help children, young people, parents and education staff to have discussions about counselling and decide whether it is suitable for them can be accessed through the Area 43 website page Powys Counselling.
Tell us more about the Youth Café you run in Cardigan
It’s about driving young people’s dreams forward, allowing their voice, hearing them and acting upon their needs. We utilised the lockdown scenario to do some online consultation and canvassed young people in the whole of our area as well as external services, to see what they would like from Area 43. Young people told us overwhelmingly that they needed safe spaces to hang out and socialise with friends where caring professionals could offer alternative views and provide additional support.
They also explained that they didn’t feel welcome in the town centre cafés - they felt stigmatised walking in as a group. The result of the consultation is Depot, which is led by young people for young people - it is their space, we just facilitate it and keep it safe.
In the youth café, young people don’t need to buy anything, they can just come in to keep warm and see other people. We heavily subsidise the cost of food and drink. We have managed to access some food poverty grants to keep costs as low as we can, and we work with Neighbourly and Fareshare for surplus foods, so we are often able to offer free meals.
Our Cardigan building is open 6 days a week up to 7pm for 14 – 25 year olds, we also hold transition sessions on Saturday mornings for 11 – 13 year olds. There are young people out there essentially living independently at the age of 14 – 16 including homeless young people, sofa surfing or sleeping rough. They come to Area 43 to stay warm, have human contact, receive support from our team, and link up with existing specialist services - drugs and alcohol, or housing options, and we facilitate this.
We also offer supported paid work placements for young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) to help them develop the skills to progress into the workplace from a safe, supportive environment where they can make mistakes and learn from them without dire consequences.
Do you have plans to develop and expand your offer in Powys?
We are working closely with Powys County Council, watch this space…
It’s about driving young people’s dreams forward, allowing their voice, hearing them and acting upon their needs. We utilised the lockdown scenario to do some online consultation and canvassed young people in the whole of our area as well as external services, to see what they would like from Area 43. Young people told us overwhelmingly that they needed safe spaces to hang out and socialise with friends where caring professionals could offer alternative views and provide additional support.
They also explained that they didn’t feel welcome in the town centre cafés - they felt stigmatised walking in as a group. The result of the consultation is Depot, which is led by young people for young people - it is their space, we just facilitate it and keep it safe.
In the youth café, young people don’t need to buy anything, they can just come in to keep warm and see other people. We heavily subsidise the cost of food and drink. We have managed to access some food poverty grants to keep costs as low as we can, and we work with Neighbourly and Fareshare for surplus foods, so we are often able to offer free meals.
Our Cardigan building is open 6 days a week up to 7pm for 14 – 25 year olds, we also hold transition sessions on Saturday mornings for 11 – 13 year olds. There are young people out there essentially living independently at the age of 14 – 16 including homeless young people, sofa surfing or sleeping rough. They come to Area 43 to stay warm, have human contact, receive support from our team, and link up with existing specialist services - drugs and alcohol, or housing options, and we facilitate this.
We also offer supported paid work placements for young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) to help them develop the skills to progress into the workplace from a safe, supportive environment where they can make mistakes and learn from them without dire consequences.
Do you have plans to develop and expand your offer in Powys?
We are working closely with Powys County Council, watch this space…
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I guess the main issue is securing consistent funding to provide these essential services. There is no doubt that the need for mental health support is very real. Whilst talking about mental health difficulties more openly has decreased the stigma, it has also opened the floodgates, and the need for support and counselling services means the demand is great and waiting lists across the sector are growing.
Contracts for counselling services go through a competitive tendering process and although we support the campaign by Young Minds and Dr Alex George (UK Youth Mental Health Ambassador) to obtain statutory funding for early intervention mental health hubs, we are still heavily reliant upon grant funders like the National Lottery.
Tell us about some of the most rewarding work you have done at Area 43
Seeing the Youth Café come to fruition is a proud achievement, we see over 200 young people every week, and last year had over 1600 visitors, it’s amazing and proves how much the safe space is needed by young people.
The most rewarding work is the direct work with young people, slowly building trust, and learning about them, their needs, background and challenges. Then having the honour of being permitted to walk with them on their journey and see them grow as they navigate the obstacles, dramas and emotions that fall in their way. I have seen some young people come from the most distressing situations where they have a lack of supportive adults at home, a tough time in education (if they attend), and substance misuse, bullying or other abuse in their lives, manage to find themselves and their strength because they learned that they had someone they could trust, who believed them and wanted the best for them. It’s amazing what young people can achieve with the right support if they want to.
How do you like spending your time when you’re not working?
I like peace and quiet and the opportunity to rejuvenate when I’m not working. I love a spa day! I also like to curl up in a cosy armchair with a book or to get out in nature, walk with my dogs on the beach or through the woods.
I like peace and quiet and the opportunity to rejuvenate when I’m not working. I love a spa day! I also like to curl up in a cosy armchair with a book or to get out in nature, walk with my dogs on the beach or through the woods.
Feedback from children & young people who have been supported by Area 43
About counselling and therapy
"Helped me release all me feeling and emotions."
"It has been helpful to be able to talk to someone. It has helped all the negative energy and thoughts to disappear."
"It helped me by boosting my self-esteem and giving me more confidence in making the right choices for myself, it also really helped with my family and friends relationships which i am thankful for."
"It was good to have someone to talk when my anxiety was a problem. I was able to work out how to control my anxiety and now have way to stop it."
"Helped me release all me feeling and emotions."
"It has been helpful to be able to talk to someone. It has helped all the negative energy and thoughts to disappear."
"It helped me by boosting my self-esteem and giving me more confidence in making the right choices for myself, it also really helped with my family and friends relationships which i am thankful for."
"It was good to have someone to talk when my anxiety was a problem. I was able to work out how to control my anxiety and now have way to stop it."
About the Youth Café
“The first time I went to the Youth Café I was an upset teenager determined not to speak to anyone. But after a Youth Support Worker coming up to chat with me I opened up more than I had in a while. I felt a lot lighter when I left.”
“Coming here (Depot) for the past 3 years has done more for my confidence than almost a decade of support groups.”
“I feel that Depot youth café is a treasure to the community for young people, as a mental health sufferer this place has helped me get out of a dark place, the support I have received from the youth workers has changed me massively in ways I didn't think was possible. I've made new friends, I've learned to accept myself for my self with my mental illness and I don't feel like I'm figuring it out anymore. I have started to come out the house more as I'm less anxious of the outside world."
“The first time I went to the Youth Café I was an upset teenager determined not to speak to anyone. But after a Youth Support Worker coming up to chat with me I opened up more than I had in a while. I felt a lot lighter when I left.”
“Coming here (Depot) for the past 3 years has done more for my confidence than almost a decade of support groups.”
“I feel that Depot youth café is a treasure to the community for young people, as a mental health sufferer this place has helped me get out of a dark place, the support I have received from the youth workers has changed me massively in ways I didn't think was possible. I've made new friends, I've learned to accept myself for my self with my mental illness and I don't feel like I'm figuring it out anymore. I have started to come out the house more as I'm less anxious of the outside world."
Many thanks to Lisa for telling us about the work of Area 43.
If you want to find out more you can contact Lisa by emailing lisa@area43.co.uk
There is also further information on the Area 43 website including an online referral form.
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