Relate: 70 years of promoting strong relationships
Masthead from 1950s editions of Marriage Guidance, the journal of the National Marriage Guidance Council
Relate is 70 this year!
In September this year, we celebrate our 70th anniversary. Relate has been at the heart of a constantly changing society, promoting strong relationships for seven decades.
To mark the occasion, BBC Radio 4 aired The Relationship People, a two part documentary about Relate and our services in March this year.
For more information email: catherine.allen@relate.org.uk or phone: 020 7554 2885 and speak to Cath Allen.
Early days and the formation of the National Marriage Guidance Council
Relate was actually formed in response to great public demand. In 1938, our founder, Dr Herbert Gray, and a group of colleagues became concerned about the strain modern life was having on couple relationships and marriage, and began research into the subject. They were surprised to receive hundreds of enquiries and requests for advice and guidance when news of their research was made public, and responded by founding the National Marriage Guidance Council (NMGC) as we were then known.
1965 National Marriage Guidance Council Annual Review
70 years of social change
Society continued to evolve after the formation of the NMGC, creating new pressures and challenges. The NMGC changed with it, expanding our services as the traditional set up of the family and couple relationship continued to be redefined, through the Second World war and beyond.
We offered guidance, advice and counselling through the rise in the numbers of women in the workplace, the decriminalisation of homosexuality, the introduction of the pill, the gradual de-stigmatising of unwed parents and the growth in numbers and increasing acceptance of the unmarried couple in society.
From guidance to counselling
The nature of Relate counselling has expanded enormously since 1938. The NMGC didn't even have an office in the early days, and saw just over 8,000 clients in the organisation's first five years. In 2008, Relate operates from 600 locations and sees over 150,000 clients a year. You can find your nearest Relate here.
In the early days of the NMGC, couples were often seen by a counselling couple, who would have been through a series of 24 lectures and a selection panel (who specified that it was desirable that the potential candidate had experienced a successful marriage).
Now, Relate offers a series of accredited University Advanced Diplomas and Postgraduate Diplomas, in couple counselling and extra specialisations in Young People's Counselling, Family Counselling and Sex Therapy. If you are interested in becoming a Relate counsellor, you can find out more here. We don't even require you to have had experience of a successful marriage!
Relate's first logo
Becoming Relate
By 1988, fifty years after our formation, the focus of the NMGC had broadened from offering guidance purely to couples who were either married or about to marry, to counselling people in all sorts of relationships, including single people. We were renamed Relate to reflect that change, and now in 2008, we offer support, courses counselling to couples, married or in a Civil Partnership or not, in the heterosexual and LGBT population, as well as young people and whole families. We offer our services in our locations across the country and in workplaces, prisons, schools, by telephone and online.
Our supporters
We have enjoyed the support of a great number of people over the years. Diana, Princess of Wales, gave us consistent help and support as our patron in the early 1990s, and to mark our anniversary, we have appointed the writer, broadcaster and advice columnist Bel Mooney to the role of Relate Ambassador. Bel will help Relate to reach out to as many people as possible to understand the role we play today in helping not just couples, but families, children and young people. We have also received quotes of support from a range of celebrities to help Relate celebrate 70 years of helping people's relationships. Click here for more about Relate's Ambassador and supporters.
Princess Diana visits Bristol Relate in 1989
How you can get involved
We are seeking people with a story to tell about their experience of Relate or National Marriage Guidance. Perhaps you are a client who we helped, or you worked or volunteered for the organisation and have an interesting experience to share? We have made a difference to so many people's lives and would like your involvement to help us to tell the story of the 70 years of Relate. Email: catherine.allen@relate.org.uk
