November 2023

Thank you for taking this time to read this communication. In a letter shared with you in September 2023, we informed you of a change to the fees for counselling sessions at GCS. The new standard fee for accessing counselling services is £55.00 per session and will be applied to all counselling sessions as of January 1st, 2024. If you take no action in response to this communication, please be aware that you will be automatically charged £55 per counselling session as of January 2024.  

It has always been a fundamental principle of GCS to provide accessible counselling to the communities of Gloucestershire. If a session rate of £55.00 prevents you from continuing to access counselling sessions at GCS, please email [email protected] and request to be sent an application for reduced counselling fees by Monday 4th December. GCS allocates our resources fairly and therefore all applications for reduced counselling rates are decided upon in accordance with the GCS reduced counselling rates policy. 

If you have recently applied for a reduced fee from September 2023 and it has been agreed with GCS under the new fee guidance this will not be altered in January 2024. 

As a charitable organisation we have a responsibility to better understand the needs of our clients and who we are serving within the communities of Gloucestershire to improve our services and reach. We will therefore be asking you to provide updated information about yourself as a service user and to complete a CORE 10. If you have completed a CORE 10 through a link or with your counsellor since 1st October 2023 you are not required to complete again.

The information you provide is strictly confidential and will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy. 

To ensure that this process is as straightforward as possible, the links to complete the information above will be sent via email and SMS message (unless your communication preferences have been selected otherwise).  

Thank you for support in enabling us to deliver such an important service to the communities of Gloucestershire.

Kind Regards

Fiona Phelps, CEO