Formerly Relate London North West, Hertfordshire, Mid Thames & Buckinghamshire
Formerly Relate London North West, Hertfordshire, Mid Thames & Buckinghamshire
We are formerly known as Relate London North West, Hertfordshire, Mid Thames and Bucks. Our journey began with a vision to strengthen relationships and promote well-being, expanding over the years to serve an ever-growing community.
In 1946 Harrow Marriage Guidance Council was formed and, initially, operated from the scout hut at the rear of St John the Baptist Church in Harrow (rented for £52 per year). Over the years, we expanded to Ealing and Wembley – then, in 1970, amalgamated with Hillingdon Marriage Guidance Council. By the time we became Relate in the late 1980s, there were over 30 counsellors and family mediators in the local Centre providing Relationship Counselling, Sex Therapy, Training, Education and Mediation services for the four boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow and Hillingdon.
Renamed Relate London North West in 2004, we further developed our services by providing Children and Young People’s Counselling for young people and families. We also expanded to work in the borough of Barnet. Our charity celebrated our 70th anniversary in 2016, when we expanded to cover a further three London boroughs – Camden, Islington and Westminster.
In January 2018 we merged with Relate Dacorum, Watford and Three Rivers and expanded to cover the whole of Hertfordshire. The area that our centre covers expanded again when, in April 2022, we merged with Relate MTB, so we changed our name to Relate London North West, Hertfordshire, Mid Thames and Buckinghamshire.
In January 2025, the Relate brand was taken over by Family Action. This has been a catalyst for us to evolve again. We are now known as The Relationships Service. We have been supporting healthy relationships since 1946, so we have many, many years of experience, making changes as the world around us has changed. We are a trusted, and reliable charity with a network of highly qualified, experienced people who can help you manage your relationships. We are a BACP accredited service.
We offer in person, online and telephone counselling sessions. In London we cover Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Islington, Camden, Westminster, Merton, Wandsworth, Croydon, Richmond Upon Thames, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington, and Chelsea. We also serve Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire (excluding Milton Keynes) Berkshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire.
Our team of over 60 practitioners provides relationship support for individuals, couples and families of all ages, backgrounds and sexual orientations. We also support families following relationship breakdown through our mediation service with mediators accredited by the Family Mediation Council.
We look forward to you coming on this new journey with us and to experience the valuable services that we have to offer. Our website is www.relationships-service.org.uk and the contact email address is info@relationships-service.org.uk. Our telephone number remains 0300 003 2324.
We offer in person, online and telephone counselling sessions. In London we cover Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Islington, Camden, Westminster, Merton, Wandsworth, Croydon, Richmond Upon Thames, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington, and Chelsea. We also serve Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire (excluding Milton Keynes) Berkshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire.
Our team of over 60 practitioners provides relationship support for individuals, couples and families of all ages, backgrounds and sexual orientations. We also support families following relationship breakdown through our mediation service with mediators accredited by the Family Mediation Council.
We look forward to you coming on this new journey with us and to experience the valuable services that we have to offer.
Our website is www.relationships-service.org.uk and the contact email address is info@relationships-service.org.uk Our telephone number remains 0300 003 2324.
Our organisation is a BACP Accredited Centre, where our policies and processes are rigorously checked each year by BACP Assessors. BACP is committed to developing the highest standards of proficiency and ethical practice within the counselling professions. Passionate about advocating the role, relevance, and value of counselling to the public, employers, and commissioners.
All our family mediators are accredited with the Family Mediation Council Home - Family Mediation Council
Our Senior Management Team brings expertise and leadership to deliver impactful support for individuals and families.
Our Trustees share the responsibility for the overall running, strategic direction, management and financial security and are voting members of the charity’s governing body.
We value your feedback! Share your experience—positive messages uplift our team, and all input helps us improve. You can also download our complaints process below.
Please note:
Our counselling sessions take place mornings, afternoons and evenings, these can be outside of our phone hours.
Mediation Phone Lines are open Monday-Friday 9-4:30
Ewan is an experienced Chief Officer, mediator, trainer and lawyer who has worked around the UK and internationally. As a leader and a well-respected practitioner, he has a career-long commitment to providing excellent services for those experiencing relationship problems. His collaborative and pragmatic approach is always with an eye to economic sustainability.
Ewan worked as a partner in an Edinburgh based law firm over two decades. He was then the founding Director of the Scottish Mediation Network for seven years building strong links with the Scottish Government. When living in New York City, Ewan ran the Manhattan Civil Court Mediation Service assisting hundreds of people to resolve their disputes.
Ewan’s achievements as a practitioner were recognised when he was named Mediator of the Year at the Law Awards of Scotland 2008. He graduated from the University of London Masters programme in Conflict Resolution and Mediation, with distinction, in 2011. Ewan has served on the Board of the Family Mediation Council and the College of Mediators as well as BACP’s Public Protection Committee. In 2018 he was named ‘Mediation Unsung Hero’ at the National Mediation Awards.
Ewan feels privileged to lead The Relationships Service team as we develop our portfolio to reach more people in more ways that work.
Ewan lives with his partner of over 40 years in Islington and their dog Gen. They love climbing mountains together in Scotland.
Nick is one of the longest standing members of the Relationships Service support team. Joining the charitable sector from financial services in 2006, Nick worked for some years in our mediation service managing our Legal Aid contract and our team of accredited family mediators.
Nick now works across all our services with her job share partner Rachel Hemphill as Joint Heads of Client Services. They manage a team of 12 administrators and support our cohort of more than 50 counsellors. Nick and Rachel are committed to ensuring our systems and processes provide the best possible client journey experience.
Nick lives in Hertfordshire with her partner and enjoys nothing better than a walk along the rugged Cornish coastline.
Maria has been a qualified practising Counsellor for over 25 years, a Relationship Counsellor for 15 years and joined the organisation in 2016 as a Counsellor and Supervisor. In 2020, Maria qualified as a Psychosexual Therapist; in 2024 qualified as a Compulsive Sexual Behaviour/Sex Addiction counsellor and has been Clinical Lead since 2021. Maria enjoys all three of her roles, Therapist, Supervisor and Clinical Lead, giving her lots of variety and satisfaction in her chosen career.
Previously Maria was a Welfare Officer in the Civil Service and a Formal Complaints Investigator in the workplace and feels that these previous posts plus life experiences help her in her current roles.
Rachel has been with the organisation since 2017 where she started as an Appointments Secretary. She quickly realised the satisfaction that she got from helping people and was completely immersed in the organisation and all that it stood for. Rachel then became one of the Operations Managers in 2020 whilst still working as part of the bookings team and taking the lead role for them.
When the two centres merged, Rachel applied for the Joint Head of Client Services role to work alongside Nicola Cunniffe and is very much looking forward to developing the role together and making a difference in the newly formed centre. Rachel is also part of the current cohort enrolled on to our IFT training course to eventually becoming a Relationships Practitioner.
Previously Rachel was a driving instructor for 11 years, running her own business and draws many skills from this career to enhance her work at The Relationships Service.
Sue is a chartered, certified accountant and Head of Finance at The Relationships Service and has worked for the charity since 2016.
Prior to working for the organisation, Sue previously worked in the private education sector. She has a commitment to provide long term proactive financial planning and oversee the financial health of the charity.
Sue manages all the financial processes and procedures, focusing on the day-to-day financial operations ensuring compliance and the strategic financial planning needed for decision making for the executive board.
Responsible for the budget, month end /year end accounts and statistical analysis.
Sue lives with 2 cats and dog. She loves keeping fit, walking in the countryside, and visiting the coast regularly.
Emma Winter is the Head of Operations at The Relationships Service and has worked for the charity since 2017.
Prior to working for the organisation, Emma previously worked for a regeneration charity supporting homeless families living in temporary accommodation across the City of Westminster to find training, volunteering/work experience opportunities and employment which she found very rewarding.
Working as the Head of Operations is always busy; Emma enjoys her job as no two days are ever the same which makes it both exciting and challenging.
Emma manages the Operations Team. She appreciates that she has a fantastic team who are very loyal and are totally committed to the charity. They all work so well together, they are a small team who accomplishes so much.
In a judicial career spanning 26 years Philip Waller has gained wide experience of and expertise in family law and practice. He was appointed as a district judge of the Principal Registry in 1994, continuing his specialist interest in family law developed in practice at the Bar.. From 2004 until 2013 Philip was Senior District Judge of the Family Division, in which role he was responsible for hearing some of the more complex and sensitive financial and children cases and for advising on changes in practice and procedure. He was appointed to the circuit bench in 2013, sitting in the family court at Watford and Luton, where alongside children proceedings his work included financial remedy appeals and Court of Protection cases. He retired from judicial office in February 2020.
As a member of the Family Procedure Rule Committee from its inception, Philip was closely involved in the development of the Family Procedure Rules and in the changes supporting the creation of the Family Court. He was a member of the Financial Remedies Working Group and has since been involved in the procedural changes for financial remedy cases which have followed the group’s report.
Philip is a Bencher of the Inner Temple and Chancellor of the Diocese of Portsmouth. He was appointed CBE in 2011 for services to the administration of justice.
Petra qualified in psychotherapy and hypnotherapy in 1992 and joined Relate in 2001 as a Couples Counsellor. She went onto become a Clinical Supervisor and overall spent 20 years as part of the team delivering relationship and family therapy, supporting clients and colleagues with a range of presenting concerns including supporting programmes in Couple Therapy for Depression and MacMillan cancer support.
Petra joined the Board as a trustee in 2024 and continues in private practice as a Relationship Therapist and Clinical Supervisor.
John trained as a doctor in London then took psychiatry and psychotherapy training in Southampton, London and Cambridge. He worked as a consultant psychiatrist in Aylesbury for over twenty years, taking a particular interest in teaching colleagues from many professions – including Relate counsellors – an approach to mental health care drawing on diverse theoretical models.
John plays classical music and jazz on his cello and, since his retirement, has served as a Relate Trustee. He is married with two grown up sons.
Rose’s career has spanned management, business development, marcoms and coaching across Europe, the US, The Middle East and India most recently As Global Head of Business Development and then Global Head of Reputation at Wolff Olins, a position she held for 10 years.
Prior to this, Rose ran her own PR company for over 20 years: first as owner and managing director of Chambers Cox PR, and then as shareholder and Director of Kinross + Render (with which she merged Chambers Cox in 2004). During this time, Rose led client programmes for businesses in financial services, food & drink, manufacturing and Not-For-Profit sectors, as well as public sector programmes for organisations such as WRAP and Young Enterprise.
Rose started coaching client and agency teams in effective business development and engagement skills when running her own PR consultancy and has continued to develop this in her years in branding. She also delivers an annual Networking Masterclass to students in Brand Leadership at the University of East Anglia.
In her other lives Rose has been a TV presenter, journalist and Masterchef finalist. She writes a food blog in her spare time.
Cllr Jean Lammiman was elected local Councillor for the Hatch End ward of the London Borough of Harrow in 1994, a representative role she still holds. Jean combines her role in public life with work as an HR practitioner, academic researcher, business consultant and business author. Jean has written books and journals on innovation and management of change, people and organisational development.
She is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Fellow of the Institute of Directors, and Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, as well as a qualified Linguist and Editor. Councillor Lammiman was elected Mayor of Harrow in May 2007. In 2009 Jean was inducted as Freeman of the City of London.
Nicola works as a leadership development specialist in London. She is a chartered occupational psychologist and is passionate about leaders realizing their potential. She has global experience having lived and worked in China and India leading business development for YSC. Nicola lives with her husband in Hertfordshire; her hobbies include netball, interior design and walking.
Michael is a qualified Chartered Accountant with over 30 years experience in Finance Change and Transformation Programmes in Financial Services industry. Michael joined the Relate Mid-Thames and Bucks as a Trustee and the Treasurer in 2018.
Fatima is an experienced professional with a BSc in Physiology and Biochemistry having completed a Post graduate research in Microbiology, Diploma in Medical Ethics.
She has worked in communication, strategy, and medical information within the pharmaceutical industry for a several years, freelance medical writing and editing, medical publishing, medical conference organisation, working with Charity Commission and medical societies and associations.
Fatima set up Mediscript Ltd, a medical education, publishing and conference company in 1984 from which she recently retired in 2020 after closing the company.
In her spare time when she isn’t spending time with her two children in London, she volunteers her time for the PTA at Haberdasher Girls and Westminster Schools, NSPCC; Chair, Totteridge District, Opera Holland Park; Events Committee and Barnet Health Champions.
Meghan Luton has been a Lecturer in Midwifery at Middlesex University since 2017. She qualified as midwife in 2010 with a HEDip (Midwifery) from UWL and held a number of positions within midwifery across community, midwifery led and labour ward settings. In 2018, she completed a MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice (Midwifery) and has focussed her research towards midwives experiences of working within obstetric led units. She also has a passion for improving access to healthcare from women with additional needs, particularly Deaf and disabled women.
She is currently undertaking a PhD exploring the experiences of Deaf women in maternity services. Meghan is our lead Safeguarding Trustee.
Simon Lascelles is an accomplished Technology Board Advisor and keynote speaker to organisations around the world.
Adept at translating technology into simple business language, Simon has lectured for organisations such as Nokia, ECI, Siemens, Learning Tree. His experience in running multinational teams to unlock their potential and explore innovative ways of working, provides him with a wealth of experience to assist growing mid-sized organisations to achieve their ambitions by building technology and teams to deliver business transformation. Simon has been described, by others, as customer focussed, enthusiastic, innovative and dynamic, commercially minded IT thought leader.
A Commercial leader and key strategic advisor who partners with CEO’s, Founders and Stakeholders, to strike the necessary balance required to push the ambitions commercially whilst ensuring integrity is maintained to the overarching strategy.
Sarita has a proven track record of steering longer term ambitions to many types of businesses which has resulted in change, transformation and sustainable success.
Sarita is also a Trustee of Bipolar UK .bipolaruk.org
Carolyn has lived in Windsor with her partner for ten years. She spent much of that time caring for her elderly parents and young grandchildren, and is keen to use her broad and positive experience of the NHS and care in the community to enhance support for people of all ages that need it. A number of years ago, Carolyn was a client of Relate in Hertfordshire.
By profession, Carolyn is a colour-correction specialist in hairdressing, and is trained in practising Reiki, which allows her to work with people in both a healing and service capacity. She is highly empathic and is keen to serve the community. Carolyn worked for Relate doing first point interviewing in the early 90’s for about 4 years.
In 2016 Carolyn co-founded Walk the Storm, a rainwear boutique for all the family. www.walkthestorm.co.uk
Carolyn has a French Bulldog and her daily dog-walking gives insights into many aspects of community life.
For a limited period, we are offering a discount on the usual price of £115 for a Mediation Information Assessment Meeting.
