WORCESTERSHIRE Relate has been awarded more than £9,000 to set up a telephone counselling service.

The new service aims to meet the needs of people living in rural areas.

In the wake of the foot-and-mouth crisis, which put pressure on couples and meant many could not travel to places where Relate counselling was available, the relationship advice service applied for funding from Advantage West Midlands.

"When foot-and-mouth hit we had existing clients in the middle of counselling," said Lorraine Preece, centre manager for Relate Worcestershire.

"We also had potential new clients because of the great impact the crisis had on many relationships. But very often they could not leave their homes and travel to places where counselling was available.

"We found ourselves unable to respond adequately to that situation."

"Our new telephone counselling service recognises that people in rural locations quite often find it quite difficult to get into towns to attend sessions.

"It will also make the service more accessible to other groups, such as couples with young children and carers for people with disabilities."

With the funding, Relate has trained 13 existing counsellors to provide relationship guidance over the phone.

People will be able to ring up and make an appointment for a counsellor to call when it is convenient to them.

"The telephone service also means people can dip their toe in the water without having to commit themselves to coming in for a face-to-face session," Mrs Preece added.

"It is a huge thing for some people to come in and have counselling."

Relate Worcestershire has also received funding to start another new service.

Counsellors will be offering parents who are going through a divorce or separation the chance to attend a one-off session on how to minimise the impact it will have on their children.

"It is great to have these new services available as an option. We can give people phoning in a choice," said Mrs Preece.