The First Port of Call – Introducing Murray

As Catalyst Support moves to the new head office in Woking, our Front Office Administrator Murray shares how he supports the teams within the charity, as well as our clients and partners. 

Hello, I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself to any of you who may not already know me within Catalyst Support our outside of the organisation.

My name is Murray and I am Catalyst’s Front Office Receptionist Administrator, formerly based at our Head Office in Guildford.

I wanted to tell you a bit about my role and how our Reception service can help you just as much as it already provides advice, guidance and initial support to a range of other public and professional enquirers that contact Catalyst Support every working day.

Navigating your way around the range of different services and support that are available in our community to help those with mental health, alcohol and drug support needs is never easy at the best of times, let alone knowing what’s available to those in need and how to access the support available.

We know that it can take a lot of personal effort sometimes for a potential client, or their family member, friend or carer, to make that initial call, email or text to us, or respond to something they may have read about Catalyst Support on social media.

They may have discovered our services for the first time after taking a look at our website, or already know about us and be seeking support once again. Their call, email or text will be gratefully received by me at our reception desk, where all are given the time, space and attention to ask the questions they would like to ask and gain the advice they are looking for in as helpful, friendly and non-judgemental way as possible. 

Catalyst Support is a growing charity and evolving all the time to respond to the demand for support across its mental health, counselling, substance use and outreach services. When first making contact with us though many enquirers have little, if any, advance information about what we can potentially do to help them.

That’s where I come in! Through that literal first point of contact that an enquirer has with us, I can help in providing the welcome and support that can lead a potential client to take their first steps forward in helping themselves towards recovery through empowering them with the information they need to give them confidence to make a self-referral or make a call, or email, to our services directly. They have taken a big step forward to reach out to us and I see my role as providing an enabling helping hand to putting them in touch with our services to take things forward.

Catalyst Support has a multitude of services of which not everyone may not always completely be aware and that is where I can assist as well. I often support colleagues, as well as external enquirers, in signposting them to other parts of our operations that they will find helpful. Our partnerships with colleagues from other voluntary, charitable and public sector organisations across Surrey are invaluable to helping to meet the many needs of our clients and it is the role of the Reception service to be the ‘front-facing’ representative of our charity in helping all concerned as the first person with whom they have contact.

You may not realise it but Catalyst Support also receives enquiries from other members of the public and professionals who do not realise that our services only cover the geography of Surrey and, in some cases, the North-East Hampshire area with the partnerships we have with Surrey & Borders Mental Health NHS Trust. Many a time I have had to redirect enquirers to other sources of help where available, but there is a sense of satisfaction in knowing that Catalyst Support is also known about much further afield than Surrey.

The majority of our work is done by our service teams, helping our clients out in the community as well as in our office locations, and it is great to hear from them whenever they call, email or visit those of us who are office based. 

As Catalyst Support is transitioning to a new Head Office in Woking, I am here to answer your calls and advise you on our services’ temporary locations and work arrangements. All our services continue their operations, so do not hesitate to get in touch if you need help finding what you need.

These are just some of the ways in which I can help our teams and our clients, in getting the best out of Catalyst Support, and I look forward to hearing from you again as we progress through the year.

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