A DEVOTED married couple of 52 years have put forward their own money to help cut the number of marriages in society ending in divorce.

Richard and Stella Walsh, who met just before the Second World War, are helping people become aware of a new drive to save couples from the torment of divorce. The drive, called Concorde 2003, has been created by the Salvation Army, of which Mr Walsh, 75 and Mrs Walsh, 77, are members.

It will pay for four new marriage guidance counsellors to help couples of all faiths throughout the country to keep together as long as Mr and Mrs Walsh. The project culminated in a 'celebration of marriage' event in London, which Mr Walsh paid for, attended by faith leaders from the Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Roman Catholic religions, as well as MPs.

The project also received enthusiastic backing from the marriage and relationship support section of the Lord Chancellor's department in central government.

Mr Walsh said: "We just wanted to do something to help people in marriage.

"Most families somewhere along the line have someone in their family who have suffered a break-up of marriage. As we get older and we look back, we think something should be done.

"This project has involved bringing people together of different cultures and faiths and they all have the aim of the enhancement of marriage."

Mr and Mrs Walsh first met in their teens when they both worked in Lower Darwen Paper Mill, but, as Mr Walsh said, it took a lot longer for couples to get round to having their first date back then.

Mr Walsh was employed to sweep up near the cutting machine and Mrs Walsh was a paper sorter. They couple were seeing each other when war broke out in 1939. Mr Walsh joined the Voluntary Corps and was stationed in the Middle East.

The pair drifted apart, but after war ended, they met each other again and settled down together for life, marrying in 1950.

Mr Walsh, of Gorse Road, Blackburn, said: "In our marriage the most important factor is commitment and being considerate to each other. I am not saying there has been nothing wrong. I am not that brave. But the commitment to each other means there has to be give and take."

Stella said: "My advice would be to others in marriage would be to give and take and work to make each other happy."

Now the couple want other people to experience the same happiness they have had.

A spokesman from the Lord Chancellors Deprtment said: "Concorde 2003 is an excellent example of the Salvation Army's approach, as a well-established, Christian faith-based organisation that is nonetheless genuinely inclusive in the services it provides -- both in terms of religious belief and in supporting married and unmarried couples without discrimination."

Concorde 2003 was one of a range of initiatives taken forward in the last 12 months by the Salvation Army's Marriage Guidance Service.