Amanda’s legacy is giving people hope
Parents of slain teen on success of counselling centre
More than 60 people a month step through the doors of the Manda Centre looking for help — a volunteer-run facility set up in the memory of murdered Hamilton teenager Amanda Jane Duffy.
Her parents Joe and Kate this week spoke passionately to the Advertiser about their relatively new venture as it grows from strength to strength.
After being established for little over two years now, the centre aims to offer support to those affected by trauma, loss and personal crisis — concentrating on practical and emotional support, advocacy, group support and counselling, holistic therapies and psychotherapies.
The Manda Centre opened in March 2016 in memory of Amanda, who was murdered in May 1992 (aged 19). She was a promising drama student with her whole life before her.
Amanda’s dad Joe, who is chairperson of the Manda Centre, said: “Amanda’s talent, personality, drive, commitment and ambition, combined with her warm and generous spirit, have been lost to all those who knew and loved her and to all those whose lives she would have touched.
“We named the centre ‘Manda’ because, as she was growing up her younger siblings and friends omitted the ‘A’ from her name, so it seemed fitting that we name it that.”
On entering the centre you instantly feel a sense of calm, and immediately see first-hand the positive work Joe and the volunteer counsellors are doing.
Having been shown around the small, but perfectly adapted centre, you can see how the centre is making a huge impact on those who use it on a daily basis.
Jean Lamond, a therapist at the centre, offers reflexology, reiki and massage and talks about the difference she sees in those who take up the therapies option.
She said: “They begin to open up more and you can see a huge change in them. You can see the hope back in their eyes and you can see them opening up physically and emotionally. They slowly begin to relax again.”
The centre passed its second anniversary in March this year and works in collaboration with a number of different agencies.
Offering telephone support throughout Scotland, the counsellors are constantly on-call, but this is something they say they wouldn’t have any other way.
One of the volunteer counsellors, who has been qualified for more than a decade, explained: “I love what I do, and I love to see the difference in people. We pick up the threads of their lives and peel back the different layers in order to work out a way forward.”
Kate Duffy became a qualified counsellor herself after losing her daughter Amanda.
She said: “It was a way, personally, for me to work through the trauma and the loss after what happened to Amanda. The centre is really busy and everyone’s situation who walks through our doors is completely unique. We have one client who comes to the centre and when they first arrived was so closed up emotionally and physically.
“However after counselling and therapeutic support they learned to relax and still attends occasionally.
“This client wrote a book of poems which was donated to the Manda Centre and is now available to purchase on-line with all money raised donated to the centre. This is so heartwarming to hear.”
The staff within the Manda Centre are committed to the project due to their personal experiences and past involvement providing support to those affected by murder, culpable homicide and suicide and personal crisis.
Joe said: “Due to generous donations and our committed fundraisers and the Big Lottery Awards 4 All Grant, we have been able to provide one-to-one counselling, telephone counselling and holistic therapies using our volunteer and paid sessional therapists.
“These support services allow the counsellor and therapist to assess individual needs and allocate dedicated time to everyone using person-centred counselling (PCT), cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), and alternative (holistic) therapies.
“However, funding is always an issue and we have willing volunteer helpers at the moment, but this isn’t sustainable counsellors and since this is most of the counsellors and therapist livelihood. As we receive more and more referrals, we are always looking at ways to fundraise, perhaps even a minimum donation from those who use our centre. Five pounds from each user for instance would almost cover our rent.”
If you would like to fundraise on behalf of the centre, which is based at 204 Quarry Street, or would like to donate call 01698 328724.