Our Stories

At bccs we believe that every child should be loved and cared for. However, some children experience great hardship and suffering – from bereavement and bullying, to anxiety and abuse. bccs provides counselling for children and young adults whose wellbeing, and mental and emotional health could be at risk. We employ qualified and dedicated Social Workers and Counsellors to deliver this caring service, which is structured and intensive where necessary. Often we deal with a child’s issues long before any other agency would have processed the administration to enable a child to be cared for. Our unique approach is to intervene as soon as problems are identified and work with the children for as long as it takes to put things right.

bccs cares for over 1,600 new children each year and will be caring for around 3,500 at any one time. We work in partnership with over 100 schools and provide our service on site at school; teachers and support staff are ideally placed to spot a child who is experiencing problems and our relationship with them facilitates almost immediate care.

The schools we partner with are a mix of Secondary and Primary, Catholic and non-Catholic, in the county of Essex and the London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Newham, Redbridge and Waltham Forest. We work in areas of high deprivation and, in addition to this, 70% of the schools where we work are Catholic schools – on average Catholic schools contain pupils from lower than average areas of deprivation for the place where they are sited. Catholic schools also contain a far greater ethnic and socio-economic mix than average so we reach an incredibly wide spectrum of children. The work we do not only benefits the children we work with directly but also their families, their schools and their local communities.

Links to some examples of our work can be found below. The cases outlined reflect the dedication and commitment of our Social Workers and Counsellors, and also the great need for the service that we enable them to provide.

At bccs our biggest undertaking is the one-to-one work we do in schools with children. However, this is not right for every child and we are now in a position to widen the suite of services we offer. Please see ‘Our Services’ for more information on the training we offer.

Jack's Story

Jack's mother tells how her son has been helped by 'bccs'. He was struggling to cope with everyday situations and family life was becoming difficult.

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Jayne's Story

We work with many children who have experienced domestic violence or abuse. Home Office statistics claim that least 750,000 children a year 'witness' domestic violence and about half the number of children living with domestic violence have themselves suffered physical abuse.

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Sophia's Story

Sophia is 16 years old. She referred herself, having learnt of the service provided by the Society to her school through a friend. Sophia's parents had separated acrimoniously when she was a small child. Her mother drank heavily through this period.

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Holly's Story

Holly is 14 years old and the eldest of four children. She was referred to the Society as staff at school had noticed that her attitude and behaviour had recently deteriorated.

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Our work with Emma

Here is an example of a case that gives an idea of some of the work we do. Emma is a 15-year-old student who needed some help to cope with feelings of sadness which led to self-harm.

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Building Friendships

Children's friendships are templates for the subsequent relationships they will form throughout school and the rest of their adult lives.

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Bereavement

Research indicates that up to 70% of schools are dealing with a bereaved child at any given time. Many staff members may feel anxious about how to support a child or young person when they have experienced a bereavement.

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