About us
Our Mission
Our mission is to make private counselling and psychotherapy accessible to adults based in Gateshead, Newcastle and the surrounding areas who would benefit from the service, but might never be able to access it for financial reasons. We aim to deliver a service that has choice, dignity, equity and equality at its heart.
About Jonathan Upshall and our founder
Jonathan Upshall was a talented and popular man, with a sense of adventure, a great sense of humour, and many friends. His life was cut tragically short in 2019, aged only 47, by Motor Neurone Disease.
According to his collegues at the multinational insurance broking firm AON “He had a mind quicker than most, had an ability to see the bigger picture on all placements and on top of that, his technical knowledge was superb”. In 2018 he was awarded the Insurance Insider Cyber Rankings Award for Broker of the year.
Jonathan’s legacy has made it possible to establish this charity. Sadly it was too late to talk to him about the foundation, but we are confident he would be a supporter of our aims and mission.
The Jonathan Upshall Foundation was founded by Jonathan’s niece Kate Upshall in November 2021, with support from her father, Jonathan’s brother, Robert.
Kate is a UKCP accredited Gestalt Psychotherapeutic Counsellor, with training in Occupational Psychology. She has many years of experience working in mental health and wellbeing in the charity sector, and runs a private Gestalt therapy practice.
Kate is passionate about the benefits of therapy and its life-changing potential, and is driven by a desire to break down financial barriers so more people have the opportunity to experience services they might otherwise never be able to access.
Through her work in the charity sector, Kate met many people for whom the opportunity to have a timely intervention, with a therapist they have chosen, in a non-medical setting, could have made a huge difference to their recovery.
Feedback from our beneficiaries
“I really appreciate the kindness shown by Kate to support me through funding my therapy sessions which have been vital for my emotional wellbeing”
“Financial support for my therapy sessions ensured that I was able to afford to attend regularly and for an agreed period of time. This focussed the sessions and enabled me to see my progression over this time and reflect on the positive change in my approach to a number of life challenges. Being able to move on to a second set of sessions further progressed my ability to consolidate my progress with regular support. Thank you this was and remains a very tricky period of my life and having financial support to seek out an insightful and a positive therapy approach has been invaluable”
“The service I have received is more than I ever expected and has been such a positive part of my journey to wellness within my mental health and understanding myself fully”
“Such a great cause, would recommend coming to them if you’re in need”
“This foundation helped me to get through one of the darkest periods of my life and I'm out the other side, happier than I was before. I can't thank you enough.”
“I now feel more at ease with my past and definitely way less anticipatory anxiety. I feel well, and perhaps the best I have felt in many years. I think this was the first time I could properly talk through my past with someone (outside my usual circles). I realised during the process how much I hadn't told anyone, in so, realising how much pain and anger (a new feeling to me!) I still held onto. This was really holding me back and I am no longer stuck or powerless.”
“Being able to talk to someone has really helped me with a lot of personal issues and made me feel so seen and valid. Having received no support from my university, I don't know if I would have coped as well in my final year of studies without the grant.”
'The foundation Kate has set up offered me a lifeline when I really needed one. She was quick to respond to my application and my therapist was wonderful. The help she is offering is so kind and needed by so many. I am sure she will change the lives of a lot of people"
“I would not hesitate to recommend the Foundation. I have had bad experiences with therapy in the past, but they connected me to somebody who was very specialised, approachable, and skilled, and who helped me a lot. The connection service was almost seamless - they were able to connect me quickly and effectively based on what I needed. This excellent service should be wider known, so they can help more people!”
“The funded sessions that the foundation subsidised helped me address issues that have troubled me since childhood and have allowed me to move forward with my life. I cannot praise them highly enough. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”