Cash-strapped charity chiefs will claim their counselling sessions save the NHS hundreds of pounds each time at crunch talks with health chiefs.

Senior figures from marriage guidance charity Relate will meet Bradford Health Authority for the first time tomorrow to make a plea for an urgent injection of thousands of pounds.

The charity, based in Westgate, is operating from month to month after running into growing financial problems offering services including counselling to more than 800 couples a year.

It receives no money from the health authority but claims it saves the NHS huge sums in cash which would be spent on mental health services, GP time and medication.

Relate says it costs £230 for a course of counselling but about £1,000 for treatment for a patient referred to a mental health resource centre.

It has won support from Bradford Community Health NHS Trust chiefs, who run mental services in the city, in a campaign for financial backing from the health authority which has already rejected a plea for more money.

Gill Midgley, co-manager of Relate, said it was vital the health authority provided a regular source of funding and they would be presenting a strong case at the meeting.

A third of clients were referred from family doctors and were clearly sufficiently distressed about their problems to seek medical help.

"Bradford Community Health has acknowledged that if our service disappeared it would put a great strain on their service," she said..

"We hope the data we present them with will convince them of a need for a continuing Relate service."

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