Having recently joined The Harbour, with 17 years’ experience of supporting charities with fundraising, I have been consistently impressed with the professionalism of my colleagues; the quality of the work they deliver and their care and compassion is exceptional. There is no other organisation or service, free of charge, statutory or voluntary that offers specialist counselling support to people who face their own death, have reached the point of dying or are recently bereaved. The support The Harbour delivers is so needed right now and I feel blessed to have the opportunity to fundraise for such a worthy cause.

I am an individual and couple therapist and have worked at The Harbour for 20 years. Illness, loss and death affects us all and our loved ones. I strongly believe that relationships can provide an important and valuable resource to help with these potentially overwhelming and isolating experiences. With this in mind, I developed the couple service at The Harbour, 10 years ago. I am registered with The British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC). As a Graduate Member of Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology, I also work closely with Tavistock Relationships in London, training and supervising therapists to work relationally with couples to address the impact, changes and losses in their lives. 

I have been working at the Harbour since 2002 as a therapist and in 2016 I took on the role of clinical lead after working within NHS community mental health services for 19 years. In my time at The Harbour I have seen us grow and develop as a organisation and I feel great pride in the essential service we provide. Illness and bereavement can isolate and I have seen repeatedly how the The Harbour offers a life-line by providing a place where people feel heard and responded to. I am a psychodynamic psychotherapist, an accredited member of British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and a registered member of the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) and the Severnside Institute For Psychotherapy (SIP). I am accredited to provide DIT (Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy) which is an NHS approved talking therapy.  

I am passionate about our vision of creating a safe space to talk and be listened to when we face death, dying and bereavement. These are experiences that we will all encounter in our lives, and I feel strongly that as a community we are all better off if we have somewhere safe and confidential to share them when they feel like they are too much to bear. I am very proud of the team of staff, trustees and volunteers we have here at The Harbour. I feel like it’s a real privilege to work for a service that makes such a difference to people in Bristol.