A CROWDFUNDER campaign has been extended to help people in Winchester in need of mental health support.

All donations made to the Olive Branch Counselling Service in Winchester will be matched by Winchester City Council. The council offered the extension to the service without giving a reason.

The Olive Branch Counselling charity provides long-term talking therapy, in person and online, to Winchester and the surrounding area. The voluntary organisation in Winchester is the only counselling service in Hampshire that allows clients to pay only what they can afford with the rest of the costs being covered by the charity.

READ MORE: The Olive Branch Counselling Service launches crowdfunder, with support of Winchester City Council, to help more people benefit from the mental health charity in the city

The initial deadline for donations to the crowdfunder has been extended from July 27 to September 15. The charity has so far seen a total of around £15,00 donated through the crowdfunder, 15 per cent of the original target of £10,000. The counselling organisation has since set their sights lower, with the hope of reaching £2,000, which with the council funding would be doubled.

Volunteer, Juliette Ekins who launched the crowdfunder said: “It's great news for us as it give us another opportunity to reach the next milestone of reaching £2,000 which will unlock another £1,000 match funding pledge from the council, making a total of at least £3,000.

“We are still a way off our original target, but we understand that the current economic climate is having a very real impact on people's finances and so are extremely grateful for every donation, however small. Even a total of £3,000 will enable us to offer an additional 70 hours of counselling.”

Donations to the crowdfunding campaign will be matched by Winchester City Council up to the value of £4,000.

The charity's crowdfunder is open for donations until September 15 (since been further extended from the Facebook post), for more information on the current campaign go to crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-the-olive-branch-counselling.

To find out more about Winchester’s low-cost counselling service go to theolivebranch.org.uk/ .