On Sunday 25th April, 45 brave volunteers abseiled the 130 foot building in Stockport town centre, to raise vital funds for our mental health services at Beacon Counselling.
Beacon build resilience in Stockport and Greater Manchester, by supporting adults, children and young people experiencing mental and emotional distress by providing one to one counselling, group programmes and through community projects.
Lisa Mcgrath, Schools Counsellor at Beacon Counselling, said “Taking part in the abseil gave me the opportunity to promote & have conversations with friends and family about the vital service that Beacon provides. Not only did this create generous donations it helped to promote a better awareness.
I’m fortunate to see first-hand the life changing benefits and resilience counselling can provide. Creating more funding hopefully means it will be more accessible to our local community & more people will benefit. It was also terrifying & exciting at the same time! Can’t wait to do another one!”
Sponsored to the tune of £1000 by Steve Oliver at musicMagpie, a stream of local businesses, organisations and individuals joined #TeamBeacon’s 15 brave souls, including Stockport Homes, Stockport Council, BASF, CDL, Gunnercooke and Nexperia. Heatons Post’s Amanda and Mel bravely took to the challenge; alongside The Stockport Spidermen and Beacon’s very own Supergirl, Joanne Watson.
The incredible fundraising efforts of all involved has now amounted to over £10,000, which will significantly support Beacon Counselling with our work in the community.
“It was an honour to attend the abseil for Beacon Counselling, particularly in this year where their work has been more essential than ever,” said the Mayor, Cllr Dean Fitzpatrick.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has been tough for most people in Stockport and nationally, with figures showing a marked increase in reported mental health cases. Beacon Counselling provides invaluable support for people across our borough and beyond over the past year. I’m thrilled that this event was able to contribute to raising money for this brilliant cause – mental health matters to everyone.”
James Harper, Chief Executive at Beacon Counselling, added: “All of us here at Beacon were thrilled to be selected as the Mayor’s charity this year. I think the work we do has resonated with the people of Stockport particularly this year: everyone knows how it feels to be struggling due to lockdown.”
“We’re grateful to the Mayor for attending and to all of the wonderful volunteers who took on the Stopford House abseiling challenge!”
The event took place following strict social distancing guidelines in accordance with the current government guidance.
More Photographs and videos from the day can be found on Beacon’s social feeds. Follow us to keep up to date with our news: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
