GAZETTE & HERALD: NORTH Wiltshire District Council has awarded a counselling scheme more than £2,000 to start a free service for young people in Corsham.

Parents and agencies have requested that Corsham follows Devizes, Chippenham and Tidworth and launches a weekly three-hour counselling session for ten to 18 year-olds.

Currently there is no service offered in the secondary school, the town or the surrounding villages.

Youth counselling manager, who co-ordinates the counselling service for Relate Mid Wiltshire, Pam Walden-Woods said: "I'm absolutely thrilled that we are now able to offer the service in Corsham and young people are no longer going to be disadvantaged by travelling into Chippenham.

"Some parents have real difficulty in accessing the centres because they don't have transport or are single-parent families.

"It's quite a traumatic and challenging experience going to counselling so if they can go somewhere local, that they know and feel comfortable in, it helps them to open up and engage."

Relate Mid Wiltshire asked for a revenue grant of £2,500 but the Corsham area committee agreed on £2,360 at a council meeting last Tuesday.

Talk Zone, the after school counselling session, aims to provide young people with a safe place to release their feelings to a sympathetic, independent and professional person.

They can discuss anything from relationships with a new step-parent, divorce, new siblings, trying to manage living in two homes to anxiety and depression.

Coun Richard Tonge suggested they invite a spokesperson from Relate to their next meeting to talk about the job they do as some councillors were unsure what it involved. They were also surprised that children as young as ten were using the service.

Mrs Walden-Woods, who will be talking about the role of Relate at the Corsham area committee on March 8, said they have been operating the service with ten year olds for two years.

She said: "The reason we work with ten year olds is because in our experience their problems emanate from a very young age, for example abandonment. It means we can be much more effective if we work with them early."

The next step is to find a permanent venue a small, quiet, confidential room with a facility for a reception.

Relate Mid Wiltshire hopes to start the counselling sessions in May.

"There are people on a waiting list for Chippenham and Devizes at the moment who will be very pleased when we can get the service in Corsham up and running," Mrs Walden-Woods said.

"By offering this extra service it will alleviate the other services."

Health Partnerships officer, Miranda Gilmour, who presented Relate's application for a grant at the meeting, said: "It is open to any child who can access this after school."