“I couldn’t rate my counsellor highly enough, she was absolutely brilliant and I feel really grateful to have met her and benefited from her help and guidance. I actually cried at my last session because I had to say goodbye and she had come to be such a special person in my life.”
TalkTime Scotland is a unique charity offering free professional counselling (either face-to-face from its base in Leith or online) to any young person aged 12-25 living in Scotland who is physically disabled or has a long-term physical condition. It was set up in 2014 by Seonaid Cooke and her son Joshua Hepple (both in the photograph above), who has cerebral palsy, to celebrate Joshua’s graduation in Law from Stirling University.
As a wheelchair user, Joshua felt socially isolated when he was at secondary school. However, he did well in his Highers and managed to get a place to study Law at Stirling University, where he lived on campus in disabled student accommodation.
Once he arrived at Stirling, he was able to access the university counselling service which he used regularly throughout his studies. He learnt to understand his moods and work out strategies to deal with negative emotions. The counselling also helped to build up his confidence so that he felt able to engage in student social life in a way that he had never done while at school, building relationships and getting involved in student politics.
A few days after his graduation, Joshua and his mum sat down and talked about setting up some kind of organisation that would help to make a difference to other young disabled people. Joshua felt that if he had been able to speak to someone in confidence about how he was feeling as a vulnerable teenager, it would have been of immense help.
As a result of this conversation, the idea for TalkTime came about. The charity has now helped over 100 young people with a wide range of conditions from cerebral palsy to muscular dystrophy, spina bifida and hidden disabilities such as diabetes, epilepsy and severe asthma.
In 2017 the work of the charity was commended in a motion in the Scottish Parliament signed by 33 MSPs.
Joshua now lives in London and has written an award winning play (in collaboration with his friend Jon Bradshaw) based on his experience of using dating apps as a young disabled gay man. The play entitled “Animal” won a BBC new writing competition and toured the UK in 2023 and received multiple five star reviews. Currently Joshua teaches Equality Law at London Metropolitan University and works as a freelance equality adviser to many organisations including Transport for London, The British Film Institute and The Globe Theatre.
This year TalkTime Scotland celebrates its 10th anniversary and is planning to host a Comedy Gala in August at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival featuring disabled stand-up comedians.
Here is some feedback from past clients:
“The counsellor was very accommodating and had to make a special effort with my communication”
“My counsellor was wonderful”
“My counsellor was a great help to me, she was ready to listen and very nice to chat to, a very nice person to talk to during a rough time.”
“She was absolutely fantastic. Very understanding, easy to talk to. No faults at all.”
All clients are offered a minimum of 10 one-hour sessions with a professionally qualified counsellor who has experience of working with young disabled people. The charity takes referrals from all sources including self-referral. Waiting times are generally less than six weeks and sessions can be in person or online. Please email or visit their website for more information about the support they can provide.
Joshua Hepple and Seonaid Cooke are Co-Founders of TalkTime Scotland.
