Payment Guidelines

Each counselling hour costs Relate Nottinghamshire about £50.00 to provide. Although we are a charity, we receive a very limited amount of funding, and we could not survive without asking our clients to make a significant contribution towards the full cost. Our charges are set out below.

It is our aim to ensure that no-one is prevented from attending counselling due to their financial circumstances, If you feel that you may not be able to manage the cost of weekly appointments, then you might like to ask about coming to see us on a fortnightly basis.

If your circumstances are particularly difficult then please make sure that you ask about our bursary fund. It is there to help you.

Registration fee

A standard fee of £10.00 is charged to cover the administrative costs involved in registering you on our system and finding a suitable appointment for you.

Charge per session

The Relate Nottinghamshire Bursary Fund

If you are unable to pay the normal minimum charge of £25.00 you may be eligible to apply to the Relate Nottinghamshire Bursary fund. Limited bursary funding is available due to the generosity of local funders.

Bursaries are available in the following circumstances:-

• You are in receipt of Income support, Unemployment Benefit, or a Disability Benefit.
• You have an income, but also have particular financial commitments which make paying the minimum £25.00 charge impossible.
• Special circumstances involving financial need, considered on a case by case basis.

If you feel that you are entitled to a bursary because your circumstances fall into one of these categories, please ask for an application form to the Relate Nottinghamshire Bursary Fund when you come for your first appointment. We will then agree the bursary to be applied for and assist you in completing the application.

Changing your Agreed Payment

If your financial circumstances change during the course of your counselling, it is possible for a new agreement to be made about how much you can afford to pay per session. Please talk to your counsellor.

How you pay for Counselling

You will be asked to pay a Registration Fee to secure your First Appointment. This is to help us cover the costs of registering you on our system and booking an appointment which suits your availability. When the appointment is booked you will also be asked to pay the required amount in advance. The aim of this is to ensure that we only book appointments for clients who are really committed to attending, so that our precious counsellor resources are not wasted.

When you are offered an appointment for ongoing counselling we will ask you to make a payment in advance to secure the appointment. When you attend your first counselling session, we ask you to pay the receptionist for your second session, and so on. The last time you attend the Centre, therefore, no payment will be due.