Did you know that? As Relate turns 70, we look back over our historical archives to present some lesser known facts about one of the country’s best known charities….

1. Relate, formerly the Marriage Guidance Council was founded in 1938 by the Dr Reverend Herbert Gray
2. Divorce, the falling birth-rate and sexual morality were the major concerns of the organisation as it emerged from the Second World War
3. In 1945 Dr Mace, a founding father of the MGC, estimated that one in six mothers had abandoned the idea of pre-marital chastity
4. Another of the organisation’s founding members was Mary Attenborough, mother to Lord Attenborough and Sir David Attenborough
5. In 1948, a study of 1000 clients found 1 in 4 showed gross ignorance of sex and 1 in 3 wives were sexually unsatisfied
6. In 1952 around 3,000 couples came to us for marriage preparation advice
7. By 1953 we were helping 7943 couples at a growing network of centres around the country
8. In 1967 the NMGC had a 94 per cent awareness rate amongst the general public
9. Marital Sexual Dysfunction Therapy began with Relate in 1976 and was delivered by two therapists, in 1990 it became known as Sex Therapy
10. Monty-python John Cleese gave a book signing for his bestseller “Families and how to survive them” at the relate Bookshop, Herbert Gray College in 1985
11. Relate first offered a form of telephone counselling in 1991
12. Today in 2008, relate helps 150,000 people at 600 locations nationwide – family counselling, young persons counselling, parenting support, therapeutic mediation and group workshops for important life-stages