Innovation

The innovation of Crisis begins with Jean Cumming utilising her previously established skills to help those who were forgotten. By doing so, Crisis provide a counselling service that is affordable and readily available to all, throughout Scotland and beyond. A key characteristic of this innovation is its ability to perform on a larger scale and assist other third sector businesses because they “don’t have those professional barriers with each other” which allows for skill-sharing. Jean exemplified this scalability by explaining their influence in creating a similar service for Belfast Office and providing aid in the wake of the Zeebrugge disaster. Crisis has also created training programmes for employers, who can provide help to their staff when needed.

The specific innovation of Crisis that will allow for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is their provision of a counselling service to all who require it and in a timely manner. The primary SDG that it aims to solve is: to build sustainable cities and communities. They achieve this by offering their services to all groups of people: this is achieved by offering a lower rate of “£5 for low income, the unemployed or children.”

Another SDG that innovation of Crisis aims to achieve is to promote “decent work and economic growth”. By providing support to everyone, Jean explains that this gets “key people back to the workplace”. The result of this support allows the global workforce’s skill-set to be enhanced; thus, increasing the potential for economic spending overall.

Inspiration

Crisis was created in 1996 by Jean Cumming, an NHS health manager who had been inspired to take action to help improve the number of suicides which were being committed nearby to the Erskine Bridge area of Glasgow. “We sometimes had two suicides a day in this area, the problem got so big that it wasn’t even reported anymore.” Working within the community close-by to the Erskine Bridge, Jean witnessed the severe lack of support for individuals with mental health illnesses and the devastation that this caused for families.

After Jean lost her brother to suicide, it inspired her to make a difference for people experiencing mental health illnesses. “I had lost my brother, my brother was in the Navy for twenty-five years and he became alcoholic because it was so easy to drink in the navy. He did not make a good transition from the Navy to civilian life, he lost a role, he lost his identity, and he just couldn’t cope.” Jean’s brother’s death resonated with her as she realised there was a severe lack of mental health support for people, especially those who had served in the military.

The detrimental lack of interim reporting was also an inspiration for Jean as this was allowing mental health issues to deteriorate before individuals received support. “…there was no interim report system at all. Children had absolutely nothing at all… So in my wisdom, I thought I could become a counsellor.”

Overall impact

Crisis provide counselling services for a diverse range of clients through their contracts with both private and public sector organisations. Before Crisis were established there was no suitable, alternative support network for those in need. Crisis’ services provide “early intervention for as long as needed and… when you need it”. Where previously, people did not receive intervention before there mental health issues were “too embedded and there was sometimes no reversal”. Crisis has now seen 46,000 patients since they were established; without Crisis’ services these patients may not have received the appropriate support to help improve their mental health, which would further contribute high rates of suicide in the area in which Crisis operate.

Crisis services have had a positive, lasting impact on their patients, Jean emphasises that through providing the appropriate support for those in need they have contributed “healthier communities and healthier families” who previously may have been fragmented due to lack of an appropriate support network. Through the support of Crisis many patients are now able to return to work and support their families, emphasising the lasting impact that their services can have on the patients that they engage with.

Crisis as a business are continually growing and positively impacting the lives of more and more patients. Since 5^th of January 2018, Crisis have received 307 referrals. In the year previous, there were a total 1679 referrals. Without Crisis, these patients may not have received the appropriate support for their condition and “fell through the net”.

Business benefit

In 21 years of operation, Crisis Counselling have positively impacted 46,000 people throughout Scotland. In order to cater for this number of clients, Crisis employs 93 counsellors spread across the country to accommodate those in need, regardless of their location. Jean said most of the counsellors “just don’t leave”, with some involved for 17 years. This means a number of different specialities are covered by the organisation, maximising potential services offered.

The organisation started out, as Jean puts it “with £100 to register the company” and from sticking to its mission, has garnered success. Last year, Crisis had turnover of more than £156,000, which signifies an increase of 34% in 4 years. An impressive figure for an organisation providing counselling services to those who need it most for £5 per session. To make this possible, the organisation generates revenue from elsewhere. This is mainly from their Employee Assistance Services, which includes employee support, counselling and training of employees. Other sources of funding, like donations allow the organisation to continue without relying on government support which can end and leave a company stranded.

Going forward, Jean wants to continue with the past success and ensure everyone needing help gets it. One plan to do this is the development of a Skype room, allowing for counsellors to work on site with people from around the world. According to Jean, this can allow for a steady income to maintain counsellor’s wages, whilst providing further support to those who need it in more locations.

Social and environmental benefit

Crisis Counselling is approved by The Social Enterprise Mark, which is the solely internationally accessible social enterprise certification, allowing credible enterprises to verify that they put the attentions of people and planet before shareholder profit. Thus, demonstrating that Crisis has delivered promising influences to society and the environment throughout its effective 21 years in operation.

Respecting societal benefits, Jean highlighted the organisation aims for “healthier communities and healthier families” indicating that by supporting one individual in a family, the entire family is assisted, which additionally has a positive effect on the whole community. Attention is placed on helping key individuals proceed back in to the workplace, hence resulting in economic growth. Crisis also support families to manage transitions such as gender issues, an area where previously families received little support.

Across the organisations’ operations, Crisis produces advantageous impacts to the environment. Firstly, Crisis makes a conscious effort to reduce their carbon footprint by distributing clients to employees in the same regional area in attempt to decrease the adverse effects of non-essential travelling. Crisis aims to achieve the improve life on land SDG, this is evident through the organisation’s work with the Forestry Commission whereby their tree surgeons assisted in situating Crisis’s phone lines and avoided harming trees. Furthermore, Crisis strives to participate in basic recycling procedures in order to positively influence the environment. Therefore, Jean expressed every decision made by Crisis involves great importance on how the organisation can reduce or eliminate undesirable environmental impacts.

Interview

Jean Cumming, Mrs