About Us
Chad Varah, a vicar in London, founded Samaritans – a non religious organisation - after spending his career offering counsel to his parishioners but wanting to do something more for those contemplating suicide. Determined to make a difference, he set up a brand new helpline and took his first call in 1953. Seventy years later, we offer 24/7 emotional support to anyone in our community who is struggling to cope and needs someone to talk to. Today across the country we have over 200 branches and locations and around 23,000 trained listening volunteers, all working to deliver our vision to reduce the number of people dying by suicide. Across the country we take a call every ten seconds – we answered over three million calls last year. However suicide rates remain as high now as they were over 20 years ago. In England and Wales, suicide is the leading cause of death for people under 35. Every life lost to suicide is a tragedy. We have much more work to do.
What’s it like to volunteer – Will’s story in Plymouth
I started volunteering about four years ago. I have worked in business all my life but felt I needed a new challenge, way out of my comfort zone. I found it! We have about 150 volunteers, from all different backgrounds, at our branch in Plymouth – the youngest is 18, the oldest in their eighties. Some answer the phones, others are in support roles – from maintenance, IT, working in our shop to admin roles. All our volunteers play a vital part in our team. I travel in from Crapstone but other volunteers come from Plymouth itself as well as all the surrounding towns and villages. I normally do one three-hour shift, weekly. We choose times that work for us but there will always be a Samaritan ready to take calls – even on Christmas Day. The night shifts are the hardest but sometimes that is when we are most needed and it feels like we make the biggest difference. All my training was done in Plymouth and we have a brilliant mentoring system, making sure we are ready to take our first live call, and supporting us after a tough shift.
On every shift, there will be at least two of us on duty at our branch. We sit down, take a breath and the phones start ringing. Even now it feels daunting when that phone rings, not knowing what the nature of the call will be – I think it always will. Every call is different, some can be challenging, some heartbreaking. There is perhaps a misconception that all our calls are from people on the verge of taking their own lives – we do get those calls, but most people are not at that stage, rather they are struggling and need someone to talk to. Some calls may last a few minutes, some a couple of hours – whatever is needed. We will not judge our callers or tell them what to do. We can’t trace their call and they will not have to face us again the next day, so we find people really do open up and talk about their innermost feelings – whatever their situation. It feels like a real honour that people trust me enough to do so. It’s so satisfying to know at the end of a shift that I have made a real difference to someone’s life, perhaps even made the difference between someone choosing to end their life or carry on. Who knows, one day it may be me or a loved one making that call.
How can you help?
We are always on the lookout for new volunteers. You don’t need to have prior experience. We’ll offer you full training. We need you to be empathetic, open-minded (some of our callers will have very different life experiences from your own), be discreet (we never discuss calls outside our organisation) and inclusive. Could that be you? If so contact us via samaritans.org/support-us
And yes, we rely on your kind donations too!! Our branch has to raise all its own money to pay for its costs which, like yours, unfortunately go up every year. If you can help, please go to justgiving.com/samaritansplymouth. Every pound will go directly to funding our service.
Do you need support?
When life is difficult, Samaritans are here – day or night, 365 days a year. You can call us for free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org or email us at jo@samaritans.org. Whatever you’re facing, we’re here to listen.