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Our History
Off the Record (Bristol) opened its doors for the first time in November 1965, and can justifiably claim to be one of the oldest established young people’s counselling services in the country.
The service began as a result of a combined initiative between the Bristol Association of Youth Clubs and Bristol Marriage and Family Guidance Council.
In the course of their work in youth clubs and schools, both organisations had become aware of the considerable numbers of young people for whom counselling would be appropriate.
In the absence of a service that was free, confidential, and targeted specifically at young people, Off the Record (Bristol) was born.
- In 1975 we moved away from the Marriage Guidance Council and into dedicated premises on Pipe Lane, opposite Colston Hall.
- In January 1981 we moved into our current base at the foot of St Michael’s Hill, in the Kingsdown area of the city.
- The service developed and steadily evolved until the Summer of 1996, when despite the best efforts of staff, volunteers and trustees, the organisation closed for several months due to a lack of local authority funding when Avon ceased to exist.
- After much heroic campaigning we re-opened our doors later that year, eventually growing into the organisation you see today, taking over 2,000 calls a year from young people looking for emotional support.
Our talented and highly committed pool of volunteer counsellors and staff work with local young people across a range of settings in Bristol, including schools and colleges, GP surgeries, community groups, and our city centre base.
Working both individually and in groups, sometimes with families, we support children and young people, aged from 5 to 25, to overcome a range of practical issues and mental health difficulties.
We currently have outreach sites in Lawrence Weston, Lockleaze, Withywood and Barton Hill, and provide a range of therapeutic support in three primary schools, two secondary schools, one pupil referral unit, and across the City of Bristol College’s various campuses. Our portfolio of work is growing, with targeted support for Black and Minority Ethnic children and young people, young offenders, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender young people.
We also offer training and consultancy to local professionals and are developing a body of research into local needs, and innovative models of mental health service delivery.
These days we’re also proud to say we are youth-led, with our campaign team ‘Mentality’ meeting at least once a month to form our Young People’s Steering Group, a sub-committee of our Trustee’s Executive.
When they’re not offering guidance and advice to our Director and Trustees, the group campaigns on issues related to the social determinants of poor mental health. They provide a voice through which young people can ‘speak back’ to adults, service providers, and other young people.
Their work helps us to work more holistically - supporting young people’s individual needs while also acknowledging these needs are very often rooted in social and economic inequalities.
Regardless of the changes we have lived through, the spirit of our core offer to local young people remains fundamentally unchanged: free, accessible, specialist support that does not rely on the need for an adult referral. In that sense we are still very much Off the Record!