Posted10.02.17
‘I saw how much potential counselling has to heal’
Meet Anouska, an interior designer and owner of Anouska Tamony designs, who donated her services to help us create new wellbeing spaces for counselling sessions with our customers.
‘I first met Evolve at a counselling training course at Rape Crisis a couple of years ago and it was there that I first came across Evolve and learnt more about the brilliant work the charity does. It was at this time that I also saw how much potential counselling has to heal and how painfully underfunded this important work is.
My training as a designer, shaped my belief that in order for counselling to be as successful as possible the physical environment should be a safe, serene and soothing one.
This led to a desire to help create these kind of ideal spaces and I got in touch with Evolve to propose my idea. Serendipitously, they had just put in an application for a grant to refurbish six of their services. I was thrilled to hear Evolve had received funding from Streetsmart. The rest, as they say, is history.
My inspiration for creating the wellbeing spaces formed around the architecture and multipurpose nature of the rooms.
I spent a long time listening to the team at Evolve about how they envisaged the ideal environment and what they thought would work and what wouldn’t.
The colour palette and theme of the rooms was inspired by the more abstract concepts of nature and tranquillity. We chose to incorporate wood and plants into the schemes to breathe life into the spaces and recommended rounded furniture to create a cocooning feeling. Details such as two identical armchairs for both the counsellor and client were deliberate decisions based on a clear brief that aimed for parity and empowerment.
I would definitely recommend volunteering for charities like Evolve. We all have more to offer then we realise and when you identify your strengths and your cause there will always be a way to bring the two together!’
If you would like to learn more about our counselling programme (funded by City Bridge Trust) you can find it under our Health + Wellbeing page.
If you would like to volunteer with us, please see our volunteering opportunities page.
If you would like to support our vital work with homeless people in London, please see our donations page.
