High demand and restrictions on spending have caused the Family Centre to rely more on its volunteers.Executive director Martha Dismont said the Family Centre has been able to expand into school and community-based services because of its volunteers, who were honoured at a special dinner last month.“We are not just limited to a counselling-based role through these newer programmes so we can include volunteer support with some basic training and good oversight,” Ms Dismont said.The organisation’s therapy services require specially qualified staff, and high confidentiality. Ms Dismont said the Family Centre had been “inundated” with referrals in recent years, and has branched into school and community programmes as well as volunteer support.Although it needs more staff, she said, “the Family Centre is feeling the pinch like everyone else”.Government’s annual grant of $150,000 was cut to zero in this year’s Budget.Training and assessment director Stephanie Guthman said the Family Centre had more than 80 volunteers over the last year.The charity, which hopes to recruit more, said that prospective volunteers will need to have a clean police record, and should be willing to take extra training.“As we do more community programming that will become a bigger feature of our work,” Dr Guthman said.“The goal is to create sustainability of improved youth development by getting more support to youth, but also by training more people to have a deeper understanding of what young people need from them in order to be well.”She said the charity wanted to create “a community of volunteers” in Bermuda.Useful website: www.tfc.bm.