Tasha Foundation History
Why do we exist?
In May 1991 TASHA Foundation was founded due to community demand.
In the 1980's the seriousness of addiction problems and substance dependency had become apparent, including the mental health difficulties associated with trying to come off drugs.
Hounslow Education Department, through a local project (CEDAR), provided a 12 week support group, initially for 10 people. After the 12 week support group ended there was a continuous demand for the service by group members. Therefore, the group work was re-established as a self-help group.
By the end of September 1991 demand had tripled and another group was introduced. It was clear at this point that some of the members of the group needed more than just group support. Hence, the project remit evolved to include one to one counselling, anxiety management and structured groups.
For the next three months the project received kind support from the Education Department and local companies to allow it to open three afternoons a week.
Services Development
1992 The project was now well established and more and more people began to use the services. Opening times were increased to 5 afternoons per week. More services were added, including complimentary therapies.
1993 New premises were sought by the Management Committee to house the rapidly over crowded projects. We facilitated the first national conference on tranquillisers in the UK and raised £1,500 to open a bank account.
1994 Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow Health Authority, in recognising the necessity of the service within the community, committed £10,000 to meet operational costs and to carry out a 6 month client evaluation. As a result a Project Manager was appointed.
1995/6 The Health Authority committed an annual £50,000 grant following the positive outcome of the client evaluation in 1994. This enabled the project to look into the future with some confidence. The project was becoming well known in the community and many people, both providers of services and users, came to rely and trust in the work we were doing.
High demand from Ealing residents, who were finding it difficult to reach our premises in Brentford, led to talks with Ealing Social Services Department regarding services based in Ealing. In October 1995 Ealing Social Services Department awarded a grant establishing an outreach project in the borough. The Greenford Consortium, a group of 25 GP fund holders, also funded TASHA Foundation to provide counselling to their patients in Greenford.
1996 Exciting developments were happening for the project. New links were made with counselling and psychotherapy training institutions, bringing new energy and skills to the project. TASHA Foundation also attracted dedicated volunteers who gave their time alongside 4 paid members of staff.
1997 The "Out of Hours" service was identified by Hounslow Mental Health Joint Commissioning Group as a gap in service provision. Hence, TASHA Foundation was funded to operate an "Out of Hours" Mental Health Helpline 7 evenings per week (6pm- 12midnight) 365 days per year - including Christmas Day. The Helpline also received funding from the National Charities Board.
We were awarded a Home Office grant to research and pilot the benefits of teleconferencing as a facility for individuals unable to leave their homes due to mental health difficulties and/or substance misuse issues. The pilot project was very successful with positive outcomes. Funding was sought from local branches of Tesco's to continue the work.
The Spethorne office was opened enabling us to provide services to Spelthorne residents who were then part of Hounslow and Spethorne Health Authority.
1998/99 We were funded by West Surrey Health Authority to provide a Community Advocacy Service for individuals experiencing mental health difficulties in Spelthorne.
We also received funding from Brentford Single Regeneration Board to provide an outreach service for individuals experiencing mental health difficulties in Brentford.
March 1999 We moved to our offices in the Brentford Community Resource Centre.
October 1999 Due to the high demand of our services from Richmond residents, Richmond Parish Lands and the Hampton Fuel Allotment Trust Fund funded us to expand the Richmond Counselling service, from one morning per week to 2 days per week.
We extended our client pathway by provide Reachwork Support, a project funded by Brentford SRB, enabling users to gain NVQ qualifications.
December 1999 We were awarded a three year joint finance grant to develop a Community Link Worker Project.
We were also funded to provide a part time post through the National Carer's Grant to develop support services for carers of individuals experiencing mental health difficulties from the ethic minority communities.
2000 We further developed our outreach service with the use of a mobile bus to the Feltham area with funding from Feltham SRB.
The Richmond Counselling Service was extended to 5 days per week.
2001 The Friends of TASHA Foundation opened an Internet Cafe on Brentford High Street, for our clients and the general public, providing IT training for individuals who wished to gain computer skills.
We were also funded to provide counselling within Hounslow Primary Care Settings and Treatment Units in Hounslow, Ealing and Hammersmith.
2002 We extended our Helpline opening hours to 24 hours at weekends.
We achieved Investor in People Award.
2003 We moved our Ealing offices to Mill House, Windmill Place Business Centre.
We developed a Family Support Services for families and carers of drug uses in Ealing and adult Mental Health users in Hounslow.
2004 We expanded our services for young people at our Internet Cafe.
The carers network was established by the carer support project co-ordinator in Hounslow.
2005 We retained our Investor in People Award.
We obtained a contract to deliver Learndirect Centres in West London and North Surrey.
We expanded our aftercare support service in Hounslow for drug users.
2006 We successfully achieved the MATRIX quality standard.
2010 TASHA trained a record number of people (classified as Not in Education and Employment or Training) and also helped them to find employment.
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