Rik Mayall wants to smile when bankers go bankrupt, Dame Eileen Atkins feels so much better when she’s eating Rococo chocolates and stroking her cat, Linda Bellingham relies on sharing fine food and conversation with her family to keep her spirits high and Joanna Trollope takes comfort in the fact that as long as there are books, you are never entirely alone.  These are just a few of more than twenty celebrities who have shared their thoughts on what makes them feel good for newly launched web site, someone to turn to (www.someonetoturnto.co.uk). 

As any recovery from the recession is predicted to be fragile and slow, with knock on effects such a continuing rise in unemployment which can cause increases in domestic violence and mental health problems, someone to turn to has been set up to provide help in the four crucial areas of parenting, relationships, work and bereavement. The site aims to offers wide ranging practical support and information at a time when demand for such a service is likely to hit an all time high.  Information on offer ranges from the availability of benefits and how to access them, to how to go about filing for divorce and what your legal obligations are when someone dies.  There is a regular blog - The Hoodie's Guide to Good Parenting in which resident teenager, Harry, offers parents a much needed insight into those adolescent issues that matter the most.  The site also publishes new fiction and poetry (currently featuring extracts from A Load of Old Bellocs – Cautionary Rhymes for Modern Times by Charlie Johns) in the firm belief that reading - and writing - stories and poems can be a great form of therapy.

At the heart of someone to turn to are four comfort zone chat forums where members can share experiences or swap notes and advice about the major challenges which life can bring.  It is these forums that are expected to generate some of the most useful advice and support, enabling members to share their experiences in a way that doubles as both therapeutic and practical.

The website has been set up by Steve Cameron and Kate Dunn to be what Shakespeare called, "a good deed in a naughty world".  Says Kate, "We've both been through our fair share of ups and downs and know what it is like to need help.  The internet offers everyone a kind of anonymous intimacy, which makes it an ideal environment for people to unburden themselves without feeling self-conscious, but also to help each other out.  With someone to turn to we wanted to provide the means to make that possible."

www.someonetoturnto.co.uk