It is with great regret that we announce the imminent close-down of Counselling Northwest (CNW)
which will cease to exist by the end of September 2024.
CNW was initiated some 33 years ago by a small group of Counsellors & Psychotherapists who wished to meet and share knowledge and views in an informal way. Initially, these were ad hoc meetings, but then slowly developed into a more structured way with the introduction of evening meetings with invited speakers on a variety of topics. Over the years, this led to the format of some 9 monthly, evening meetings, the timing being allied to the academic year – September to June. Eventually, this was augmented by “whole-day” workshops on Saturdays, in which specific topics of interest could be explored in some depth, again with guest presenters. Since the first workshop held in July of 2002, there has been some 43 workshops in total, the last one being on 14th March 2020, about a week before Covid struck! This inevitably caused the instant cancellation of all meetings and workshops.
CNW has always been run and organized by volunteers but, even before Covid struck, the CNW Committee (then down to five members) was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain and run the programme, and appeals for new recruits to help run the organization have been largely unsuccessful. With the world we find ourselves living in since March of 2020, it is difficult to see that situation changing.
We have therefore decided that closure is the only conclusion. Our thanks go to all those people that have helped over some 32+ years.
With best wishes,
Tony Howard, Hon Treasurer, on behalf of the CNW Committee.