Walk Tall

At a glance

Causes

Arts
Counselling / advice
Education
Mental health

Other details

Geographical remit:

Local

Objectives

Walk Tall is nearly 20 years old and operates throughout Gravesham and Dartford in Kent but has enjoyed a countywide reach for some projects.

Our Beneficiaries:

Our aim is to support vulnerable and disadvantaged people of all ages – from 3 to 103 - to bring change that moves them towards personal fulfilment and life success. There are no special categories of vulnerability or disadvantage. Service users usually come to us because they have developed emotional barriers to full engagement with the world and life. If our service fits their need and we are able to provide it, then we will.

Our Service Model:

Our services integrate 3 disciplines – education, counselling and arts. Services provide life changing formal and informal learning, self-understanding and change through therapy, confidence and social skills practise through arts. We also provide a range of volunteering opportunities.

Our Impact:

These are some, but by no means all, of our impacts on the lives of our service users:

Qualitative Outcomes:

Trust, love, acceptance without being judged
Self-acceptance, self-esteem and new, positive perspectives
Connectedness
A sense of belonging within a “...lonely, unfriendly world .....” ~ service user JM
Confidence and growth of aspiration
Feelings of achievement through personal growth, participation in activities

Quantitative Measures:

Preventing suicide, reducing self-harm, kicking addictions, saving marriages and repairing relationships.
Re/engagement with the world – building relationships – repairing old and making new ones, re-entering mainstream education – back into school or further education, employment, volunteering
Qualifications where there would otherwise be non- attainment
Independent living, career and personal relationship success.
(Some of our service users have gone on to become members of staff and others are even working in theatre/TV/film industries)

We have a wealth of success stories over our 20 years of operation!

Activities

The Services we Provide:

Mental Health Services & Training:

1:1 counselling and psychotherapy. This is by Zoom/phone as well as, when Covid-safe, face-to-face at our counselling rooms in Gravesend and Dartford. We provide counselling to adults over the age of 18 as well as to children from 3 years of age, teenagers and relationship counselling.
Issue specific therapeutic groups, such as anxiety and bereavement support groups.
Counsellor Training: Professional training for counsellors up and including Level 4 Diploma in adult training and Level 6 Diploma in Children’s counselling.

Education:

We support schools by providing their fragile school refusers at Key Stage 4 (Y9 – Y11) with education in a very small-scale, emotionally safe environment for part of the week. This enables a focus on core GCSEs in addition to mental wellbeing education and 1:1 therapy.

We also provide a Key Stage 5 (Years 12 & 13) Study Programme: This includes English and/or maths and a choice of subject options in either academic and/or vocational qualifications. We also include psycho-education and therapy if required.

Arts:

Confidence building, age appropriate expressive arts groups such as drama, singing and original 'issue based' illustrative drama pieces, some of which have been toured to education venues throughout Kent..

No current opportunities

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