The Church Street Project, based in a studio in the Creative Quarter of Folkestone, provides creative therapies to support children who have mental health issues. Whilst the majority of children the charity supports are primary school age, it does offer support to young people up 18 years.

The charity finds creative therapies are a powerful way of helping children express and explore their needs without feeling they are ‘ in therapy’. It is also very beneficial for children and young people who struggle to communicate verbally because of  learning disabilities or if English is not their first language.

Creative therapies include art and crafts, role play, puppetry to young people. However, sand tray work is a large part of the creative therapies (hence the sandcastle logo, and the reason the charity runs an annual sandcastle competition in Folkestone).

In 2023, two local schools lost their counsellors and the charity started to receive more referrals to its services. The charity required funding to be able to offer more counselling places to meet the rise in demand. The Roger De Haan Charitable Trust’s grant of £5000 has supported this.

The Church Street Project became a registered charity in 2006. They work with local primary schools and are now also piloting parent sessions as follow up to those with their children, to benefit the family dynamic.