We aim for fewer people to die by suicide - through compassionate, timely emotional support. We offer a listening ear day or night, both at crisis point and long before. We encourage anyone who's upset, anxious or despairing to get in touch and use us as a sounding board, to let off steam, and to think through their options.
All 90+ of us are volunteers, supported by the umbrella Samaritans Central Charity.
At our branch we offer support by phone, email, text and face to face.
All Listening Volunteers do regular 3 - or 4-hour duties weekly, plus do a share of the unsocial hours (nights) once a month. It takes over 6 months to train a volunteer to become fully-fledged. In addition, many of us take on the various administrative roles (including training) that enable the branch to run effectively and support the listening.
Support Volunteers are those who do not feel they have the capacity for the Listening role but wish to help in administrative ways (eg publicity, fundraising, treasurer).
