Gorton Monastery has launched a free 'listening service' available five days a week. 

The Listening Service is an inclusive, friendly space for anyone that wants an ear, whether that’s to talk through plans, problems or just ponder. The highly trained listeners will be available five days a week.  They can guide people to further offerings at the Monastery and free counselling both at The Monastery and around the city. 

This pioneering new service, heralded as a game changer in supporting people with mental health issues, has been co-created by the Trust’s team and in-house psychologist, Jeannine Goh, and psychotherapist, Charmain Berry, in an effort to plug a gap in resources for those needing a place to come and be heard.

The service is available Sunday-Thursday and one hour slots can be booked via The Monastery’s website or by calling or emailing the Healing Sanctuary.

Part of the new Healing Sanctuary, located in the Old Refectory, former Pantry and heritage corner of The Monastery, where the Franciscan Brothers have fed, supported and looked after the local community since Victorian times.

There are currently 13 listeners, aged from their 20s to 70s, all providing their time voluntarily and trained at the Manchester Counselling Training College in Moss Side.

HERE FOR YOU: Jeannine Goh and Charmain Berry who run the new listening service.

A training course to recruit a further 15 listeners will start in January. No previous experience is needed, but people need to have a compassionate disposition. The eight-week course will run every Saturday for two hours.  Anyone wanting to apply to be a listener can fill out a form on The Monastery’s website.

Set up as a pilot project to support people in a post-Covid world, the project has been supported by a grant from The Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage. 

Co-founder of The Sanctuary of Peace and Healing, psychologist Dr Jeannine Goh, explained: “We offer a place to talk, where people can go within the secular society. There is a desperate need for this kind of initiative. Being heard at an early stage is so important.”

Charmain Berry, a psychotherapist and co-founder of the Sanctuary, added: “We have designed a joined-up holistic approach to healing which can lead to activities such as singing and gardening and skills-based training courses. The listening service is the cornerstone of what we offer. But we also run an hour’s silence in the Great Nave at noon every day from Sunday to Thursday. Silence and listening can transform people’s lives.”

Elaine Griffiths, chief executive of The Monastery, said: “What Jeannine and Charmain are creating is truly unique. There has been nothing like this before, yet an urgent and growing need. It will be a place where people can come and be welcomed and not judged. 

“There are times in all of our lives when we need someone to really listen to us.  Just being heard can be incredibly healing.”

Entry to The Monastery and parking is free.

For more information and to book a slot with the listening service visit www.themonastery.co.uk.

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