A Queenstown community support centre says it’s discontinuing its free counselling service to remain financially sustainable.
Happiness House, on Park St, has provided a wide range of community support and social services to Queenstown for the past 30 years.
Governing trust chairman Alastair McIlwrick says the centre will be ending its counselling service, which had been running for the past four years.
McIlwrick says the decision to end the service at the conclusion of its latest funding round had not been easy, and had been taken only after a careful consideration of the longer-term sustainability of the facility as a whole.
‘‘Our primary work is to look after those in the community who are disadvantaged or struggling, for example those between jobs or on low hours or incomes.
‘‘We’ve seen a sharp increase in demand for those services from our community during the past year, and the economic situation both locally and more widely doesn’t suggest any drop in demand for a while yet.
‘‘As a result, we’ve taken the very hard decision to refocus on what’s always been our core work, and won’t be seeking further one-off funding to continue counselling at Happiness House.’’
He says the move will allow a greater focus on funding staff resources for the centre’s food and clothing provision, and specific community projects such as teaching gardening skills to provide individual and community food security.
‘‘We’re fortunate to have a range of very generous national and community donors who support our work in various ways, but with the economic issues at large, we need to ensure the funding we do receive allows us to remain sustainable into the future.’’
McIlwrick says Queenstown has a range of counselling services available for those who require continued support.
‘‘Unfortunately, if it were something we were to continue to provide, we’d want it to be on a permanent basis, rather than from year to year, subject to funding availability.
‘‘People accessing counselling need the confidence it will continue to be there when they need it, on an ongoing basis.’’
He says the centre welcomes inquiries from anyone in need.
