Latest News and Information

MARKETING BOOST RAISES CHARITY’S PROFILE

Published: 16/04/2009

BUSINESS LINK - CASE STUDY
2 December 2008

More people are set to benefit from the support of Nottingham Counselling Services (NCS) as it raises its profile with a little help from Business Link.

NCS is a registered charity that has provided counselling for over 30 years and is one of the most respected and established providers of counselling and therapy in the East Midlands. 

The organisation is dedicated to providing the best possible counselling services, therapy and therapeutic support to those aged 18 and over who live, work or study in Nottingham and across Nottinghamshire. 

NCS has a team of eight staff, complemented by 60 volunteers and is fully accredited by the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).  The charity is regularly audited by its clients, receiving a 96 per cent satisfaction rate.

Executive Director, Leslie McDonald says he contacted Business Link when the charity was looking to develop its marketing and Internet presence.  “We did not have the resources to undertake the work and heard about the professional service provided by Business Link and the possibility of some funding for e-business projects.

“It’s important to be clear about what you want, to be ambitious and to get external professional help with marketing,” says Leslie. “Invest a great deal of time to get it right and it will be worth it.

Following a review of NCS, their Business Adviser helped the organisation to access training and to successfully apply for funding to enable the development and implementation of a marketing strategy.

“With this invaluable funding, people have become much more aware of us and been able to get help, rather than carrying on suffering at home or work.  The funding has also enabled us to concentrate on introducing even more counselling services to help people with the problems they are experiencing.”

Leslie says it is too early to fully evaluate the impact of the marketing work but he can see the potential benefits.  “Implementing the new strategy is helping to raise our profile, improve access to counselling support for people looking for therapeutic counselling and enabling the promotion of a new service to employers,” he explains.  “It will also help to reposition the NCS within the market for counselling services.”

Leslie is pleased with the assistance he has received from Business Link as he explains, “Our Adviser provided timely support which enabled us to realise the full benefits of the available grants. Our plans would have taken longer to progress without this invaluable support from the Business Link and our Adviser.”