Our Blog
NESSie Art Therapist Harri Nicholas run’s the 2019 London Marathon for Team Macmillan!
A blog post from our very own Harri Nicholas:
On Sunday 28th April, I completed the Virgin Money Giving London Marathon 2019 in 6 hours and 11 minutes alongside my husband. It was an amazing experience which was difficult along the way but we had unbelievably brilliant support from family, friends and the crowds! We raised £3405.00 for Macmillan Cancer Support, we were absolutely blown away by everyone’s generosity. It will be a day that will always stay with me and very proud moment to have achieved such a physical and mental challenge.
Meet Yoshi Bear: our new pets as therapy dog
Yoshi Bear is five years old and is a Pets as Therapy Dog. He lives with Charlotte, our Area Co-ordinator for Stevenage, and loves nothing better than helping children relax, laugh and have fun.
His sister Darcey and another chocolate cocker spaniel, Teddy, also share a home with him. Yoshi wears a bell to help Teddy to move around as he is blind. Yoshi is a real life super hero! He is the newest staff member of NESSie and is very excited to begin work soon.
Yoshi Bear has been nominated by the Hertfordshire NHS for A Leading Lights Award for his contribution as a volunteer at the Watford Neurological Rehabilitation Unit. His sessions have been described as ‘magical’! We cannot wait to bring his magic to our team.
One of our success stories!
A member of our team has just finished with a child in year 1. They had been excluded from one school, and were unable to be in class at the new school.
This was due to significant behavioural difficulties. The child was STUC (Significant Trauma, Unmet Need in Crisis).
Today they ended therapy and were presented with a certificate which will be received in assembly. They have never been given a certificate in assembly until now!
They have now successfully integrated back into class full time and are thriving.
NESSie in Stevenage: DSPL2 Spring Term Update
During the Spring term Harri and Charlotte ran two Staff Forums and one Parent Forum.
The Staff forums were very well attended by staff from schools across Stevenage. The themes explored were around staff support, accessing services for children and staff self nurture.
The Parent Forum offered training to provide strategies for children with anxiety. This was so popular that, as a result schools have asked for it to be repeated in the Summer Term.
Currently we are providing 12 pupils with Creative Arts Therapy sessions within their individual schools. Many referrals have been for children who have experienced significant trauma, have not had their needs met and are in crisis.
We have now moved into our brand new office, where there is a state of the art coffee machine which provides the best cappuccinos and hot chocolates!
Meet the School Counsellor at Hitchin Girls School the first Thursday of every month.
NESSie places school counsellors not only to see the young people, but also to support and inform the parents too.
Hitchin Girls School Counsellor Jayne Hale has arranged to have a drop in session once a month for the parents of any of the children at school.
NESSie’s ethos is not to just helicopter therapy in to individuals. We work with parents and carers, teachers and support staff and those in the wider community. NESSie is not an organisation that is only around for the short haul. We grow and develop as the needs of the area does.
