Registrars' pre-wedding course

Couples meet mentors before they marry

Registrars in Somerset who carry out civil wedding ceremonies have been offering couples pre-marriage advice courses - and with impressive results, they say.

The aim of the course is to ensure that couples know each other as well as possible before they marry.

There are several questionnaires to be filled out, asking a wide range of questions from details of personal finances to their past friendships.

Once they have filled in the forms, the couple are given mentors - an already married couple who offer first-hand advice.

Harry Benson: 'Family life revolutionised'

In America, it is claimed this kind of advice has reduced marriage break-ups by up to 80%.

Harry Benson of the Community Family Trust said: "If every couple in Britain did a course like this and learned marriage and relationship education it would revolutionise family life."

Val Gilfillan, a superintendent registrar, said: "We really can't continue as a society with the rate of marital breakdown that we have at the moment.

"The figures are well known and it causes immense financial and emotional stress."

The pilot scheme which has been running in Somerset for several months is now set to be extended.