Free counselling service faces closure over debt

A charity which has provided free counselling to hundreds of people in Cornwall and Devon for more than 40 years is facing closure.

The Haye Mill Charity Trust, based near Callington, said it was facing financial difficulty because it could not afford to repay a £60,000 loan.

Founder Reverend John Littlewood, to whom the loan is due, said the service could only continue for a matter of weeks if funding could not be found.

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to try to save the property and land at Haye Mill from being sold and the service shut down.

The charity was set up in 1981 offering free confidential counselling to adults from all walks of life.

Littlewood said hundreds of people had found support at Haye Mill through life's hardest moments, including anxiety, depression, grief, trauma and relationship struggles.

The Church of England minister said he believed people wanted help but could not afford it, adding: "When people are in crisis, they want help there and then.

"At a time when NHS waiting lists can stretch to 18 months and support is limited, Haye Mill remains one of the very few places where anyone can access help without cost, without judgement and without delay."

Littlewood bought the property and land at Haye Mill in 1981 and gave it to the charity which runs the service in 1983, along with an interest free loan of £60,000 for renovations.

The 78 year old said he has had to retire due to ill health and in order to pay for accessibility modifications at his own home in Tavistock, he had no choice but to reclaim the loan.

The charity said it had become financially stable in recent years due to covenants, donations and selling logs.

It said it would be able to continue its work for years to come but it does not have £60,000 to repay the money.

Over the years, Littlewood said the land itself had been transformed in to a self-sufficient, off-grid "one of a kind" therapeutic space.

In order to continue the free service, the charity said it needed Haye Mill as a base for clients to receive counselling.

Nurse Emma Eveleigh, who works in Plymouth and has been a client of the counselling service, said a closure "would be a massive loss".

Eveleigh said she suffered from severe burnout with anxiety and depression in 2018.

With no waiting list, charge or time limit, she said Haye Mill had been the perfect place for her to get help.

She added it took about 18 months but she was able to go back to a new job at the hospital, adding Haye Mill had "been there to support me throughout".

Volunteer counsellor Catherine Tomlinson said she "loves where it is" and that "as soon as you turn in the drive, you feel the peace".

Tomlinson said she felt "really desolate" at the prospect of the service ending.

"If every one of our clients gave £1 over the past 45 years, we'd have quite a lot already."

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