‘Fantastic news’ for Koram Centre

STRABANE’S mental health charity, the Koram Centre is set for a significant expansion of services after scooping almost half a million pounds in new funding.

Described this week as “fantastic news” for the town, the windfall of  £499,941 from the National Lottery will also be used to facilitate a move to larger premises.

It has further been suggested this week by a delighted Koram Centre manager,  Adrian Loughrey, that the funding will be used to support the delivery of the ‘Koram Well-being Project’ for the next four years.

“(This) will see us expand our services in a number of areas,” he enthused. “This will include 1:1 counselling for adults, young people and children, complementary therapies, therapeutic group support as well as social support and education and skills activities. These services will support people who need specialist support around their mental health as well as provide opportunities for others more widely to promote positive mental health and well-being.”

“In addition we are now able to move to larger premises in the town, meaning that we can accommodate more people.”

The Koram Centre, currently based at Mourne Villas, is a counselling service which helps people with mental health difficulties. Pre-Covid, the charity saw around 1,600 clients a year and even then had  an extensive waiting list.

Chairperson at the centre,  Gerard Harkin, this week remarked that the new funding will allow the charity to expand in the wake of the coronavirus.

“This is fantastic news for the Koram Centre and for the Strabane town more widely,” he said. “It will allow us to reach more people to offer support around mental health and well-being issues. Of course this is now more important than ever as we deal with the on-going impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions.”

Mr Harkin concluded by thanking those involved.

‘I would like to thank the National Lottery Community Fund for their support which will make a real difference in our community. I would also like to thank my fellow Board of Trustee members, our staff team, service users and all those who helped us put the application together.”

If you like to learn more about the work of the Koram Centre and the support they offer the centre can be contacted on 02871 886181.