DESPITE qualified volunteers giving 1,200 hours of help last year, Petersfield Counselling Service needs funds to help more clients, some cast adrift from a government scheme.

It was launched by the Petersfield Area Churches Together team in 1987, to help people living in and around Petersfield.

A spokesman for the service said: “No one is ever turned away, and although there are charges, we will only take what clients can afford to pay, which in some cases may only be £5 an hour.”

In the main clients are referred to the service by doctors and other experts in the caring professions.

But a new counselling service introduced by the Government and covering Petersfield is causing issues, says a counsellor who has been with the Petersfield Counselling Service (PSC) for about 20 years.

She added: “Clients aren’t being given long enough and some of them are turning to us for long term help.

”So it would be great to expand the service so we can help more people.”

Last year, the 16 professionally trained volunteer counsellors saw on average three clients virtually every week, mostly at weekends and in the evenings.

The team can use rooms at Petersfield Hospital free of charge during normal working hours.

But it cost the charity almost £35,000 to provide out-of-hours venues, cover counsellors and admin expenses, and pay for ongoing training.

To help cover outgoings, and expand the service, chairman Robert Gussman, has launched a fundraising drive.

He said: “This is so we can help more people access high quality counselling.

“All our unpaid volunteer counsellors have undertaken professional training to at least diploma level.

“The confidential service is means tested, affordable, and offers support and professional therapy to significant numbers of people.”

The Petersfield branch of the Nationwide Building Society has given the service £100, after customers chose to support it.

Mr Gussman said: “We would like to thank all those customers, and we hope that local businesses and the wider community will support us in raising more funds for this valuable service.”

To contact the service visit www.petersfieldcounsellingservice.co.uk