About
Relationships Milton Keynes
Relationships Milton Keynes is an independent charity which provides relationship support. It came about following the administration of Relate National Ltd in December 2024.
Relationships Milton Keynes helps individuals, couples and families to build better relationships through our range of support services. Our work has become even more critical post-pandemic, with the impact of rising cost-of-living on families and individuals and the growing need for support for people’s mental health.
Working at the heart of our communities, Relationships Milton Keynes delivers a wide range of support, such as individual, couples, family, young people, and sexual relationship counselling, across Milton Keynes and the surrounding areas. We partner with other centres that previously formed part of the Relate Federation to strengthen our ability to serve our beneficiaries and meet the ever-evolving needs within our communities, and we will continue to seek new partnerships and collaborations locally and nationally to enable us to deliver joined-up services and support across England and Wales.
Our Vision & Mission
Relates vision is a future in which healthy relationships form the heart of a thriving society. Our mission is to develop and support healthy relationships by:
- Helping couples, families and individuals to make relationships work better
- Delivering inclusive, high-quality services that are relevant at every stage of life
- Helping both the public and policymakers to improve their understanding of relationships and what makes them flourish.
Becoming a counsellor
Being a counsellor or sex therapist gives you the chance to have a positive impact on people’s lives, and can be an incredibly rewarding job. Our counsellors and sex therapists help thousands of people every year and receive regular supervision and support throughout their training and practice.
We offer excellent opportunities for personal growth and development, and provide further training for those who want to specialise in a particular form of counselling.
What makes a good relationship counsellor?
People come to counselling from many different backgrounds. Counselling is often a second or third career, and life experience is highly valued.
To help you understand what being a counsellor is really like, listen to what other counsellors who have become relationship counsellors have to say about what made them decide to start a career in counselling and what it’s like to work with clients.
How do I become a relationship counsellor?
You will need a Level 3 Certificate in counselling and listening skills, or counselling/listening skills training and experience working with an organisation such as the Samaritans or Childline. We can then help you decide on what course would be suitable for you.
If you already have a counselling certificate at Level 4 (with evidence of clinical placement), you can apply to one of the many Diplomas in Relationship Counselling. We can help you find a suitable course to take.
If you already have a Level 5 Diploma (or above) in counselling or psychotherapy, you can typically apply to take a Certificate in Relationship Counselling.
If you would like to know more about the training options, please contact us.
As a qualified counsellor or practitioner, you can then go onto specialist training to deliver:
- Family Counselling
- Young People’s Counselling
- Psychosexual Therapy
I have a degree, does this mean I am eligible for Level 4 or Level 5?
The qualification required for entry to any relationship counselling course is a Level 3 Certificate in Counselling Studies. These qualifications are essential as they are practical and counselling-focused rather than academically or purely theoretically focused.
Counselling is a relational activity that depends on personal qualities, self-awareness, and soft skills such as the ability to build a trusting relationship, work with differences and diversity, and convey empathic understanding. These aspects are not included or assessed in most degree programmes (including psychology degrees) and have to be learned and developed in a very different learning context.
If you have practised counselling skills as part of the degree you have studied, then you can start at Level 4, but most degrees do not include the specific practical training in counselling skills, so you will need to start at Level 3.
If the degree you have undertaken has included counselling practice, using skills at a minimum of Level 4, and you can evidence around 30 hours of supervised practice, then we can consider your application for Level 5.
What are the criteria for a clinical placement?
For the practice element of the training, we can offer you a student placement where you will be able to counsel couples on relationship issues. Your supervision will be provided by the Relationships Milton Keynes from a registered supervisor.
Become a Trustee
The Board of Relationships Milton Keynes, meets quarterly, and they are provided with the relevant information and reports in advance of the meetings.
As a Trustee, you will be making a real difference in people’s lives through quality governance, setting and monitoring strategic goals, and using your knowledge or experience to help us make sound decisions. Most importantly, we welcome your support for the work of Relationships Milton Keynes and your willingness to make the time commitment needed.
Roles & Responsibilities of Trustees
- Trustees have and must accept ultimate responsibility for directing the affairs of a charity, and ensuring that it is solvent, well-run, and delivering the charitable outcomes for the benefit of the public for which it has been set up.
- Trustees must ensure that the charity complies with charity law and with the requirements of the Charity Commission as regulator; in particular, ensure that the charity prepares reports on what it has achieved.
- Ensure that the charity remains true to its charitable purpose.
- Comply with the requirements of other legislation and other regulators (if any) which govern the activities of the charity.
- Act with integrity, and avoid any personal conflicts of interest or misuse of charity funds or assets.
- Ensure that the charity is and will remain solvent.
- Use charitable funds and assets reasonably, and only in furtherance of the charity’s objects.
- Avoid undertaking activities that might place the charity’s endowment, funds, assets or reputation at undue risk.
- Take special care when investing funds in the charity or borrowing funds for the charity to use.
- Use reasonable care and skill in their work as Trustees, using their personal skills and experience as needed to ensure that the charity is well-run and efficient.
- Consider getting external professional advice on all matters where there may be a material risk to the charity, or where the Trustees may be in breach of their duties.
Clarity about the Trustee role
The Governance Hub’s Good Governance Guide states that every organisation should be led and controlled by an effective board of Trustees, which collectively ensures delivery of its objects, sets its strategic direction and upholds its values. This means that Trustees should focus on the strategic direction of their organisation and avoid becoming involved in day-to-day operational decisions and matters. Where trustees need to become involved in operational matters, they should separate their strategic and operational roles. http://www.governancehub.org.uk/
The board of Trustees should have clear responsibilities and functions, and should compose and organise itself to discharge them effectively.
If you would like to become a trustee, please contact us to have an initial chat.
Volunteer
We have a variety of opportunities for you to volunteer for us, which we greatly appreciate.
You can volunteer to be a chaperone and receptionist while counsellors are seeing clients, or you can volunteer your support to work in our shop, which is at Shenley Church End, Milton Keynes. There, you can help us serve customers, sort out items to be sold, or help out wherever you are needed, which could include helping with the shop’s marketing or promotion.
Whatever your skills, we would love to hear from you if you would like to gain a bit of work experience or feel you can offer some of your time, we would love to hear from you. Drop us a line, and we can chat about how you can help us.