A five minute’ walk difference in real terms and a legacy in another

My client has arrived and there is more than one of them. I panic and ask my supervisor Sarah for help and say I’ve not done the group counselling module - whatever that is.

Sarah tells me I have all the skills I need and ushers me towards the room.

I walk in and it’s filled with people, imagine a large classroom with tables and to hear myself above the din, my fellow counsellors and I stand on the tables to be heard.

Everyone in the has recently suffered the passing of a grandmother and they share memories, laugh, cry, and find solace in each other’s loss. The room is filled with those who had been touched by the existence of this one person.

Most folk know about counsellor confidentiality and the reason I’m able to share this story is that it was a dream, no doubt influenced by some late-night wensleydale and cranberry.

The next morning I wondered if it was something more.

FASS has operated in the town since 1977 and it recently moved from Tolbooth Street to 24 Hill Street. A five minute’ walk difference in real terms and a legacy in another.

At 17 Tolbooth Street was a quirky building built from the 18th century, made to function as a busy charity, with cramped rooms, photocopiers and offices proposed where best.

When people come to work for FASS they tend to stay. However, it is the unseen which provides testimony.

How many intakes of breath occurred before knocking on the front door for the first time? How many people have first spoken of their troubles within these walls and how many words of courage echoed within these rooms? I’ve no doubt thousands. The impact for these brave souls - unmeasurable.

The custodians of FASS with their expertise in psychotherapy have never stopped, not even for a pandemic and continue to believe in what’s best for the client. Now, that’s a room full of people I want to be in.

> For more information, please visit www.fassaction.org.uk