Marriage Care is pleased once again to support Marriage Week UK – a celebration of the commitment of married life. It begins on 7 February and culminates on Valentine’s Day.
But amidst all the romantic fun and frivolity of hearts and roses and candlelit dinners, how many couples will be thinking deeply about their love and the nature of the commitment they have made to one another? How many couples will be just going through the motions, covering cracks in their relationship with bunches of roses and fluffy cards?
On Valentine’s Day it is easy to forget that relationships have ups and downs and that life events come along to challenge them – events such as the arrival of a new baby, when redundancy looms or debts mount up, when ill health strikes.
To get through tough times, couples may find that love alone is not enough and that commitment coupled with relationship knowledge and skills is what they need if they are to emerge with their relationship intact, if not deeper. And this is where Marriage Care comes in.
“The fact is we train for most things in life”, says Marriage Care’s chief executive Mark Molden, “so why not for the one thing that matters most? Marriage Week UK represents not only a celebration of marriage commitment but also an important reminder to nurture our relationships. And this is what Marriage Care has been doing for over 65 years – helping thousands of couples prepare for marriage and providing relationship counselling – offering education, care and hope.”
So this Marriage Week, as well as celebrating marriage, and re-affirming commitment to one another, perhaps couples should commit to acquiring the skills to help their relationship thrive.