Local Samaritans Received 40,700 Calls For Help

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All answered by 144 volunteers last year

Last year, 144 Samaritans volunteers from the Wandsworth branch in Putney answered 40,711 calls for help, according to the latest figures released by the national suicide prevention charity. Overall, 21,007 volunteers responded to 5,331,295 calls for help*.

The figures were released to coincide with Volunteers’ Week, a national initiative that ran from 1-7 June. Samaritans volunteers are ordinary people, who provide a safe space for anyone struggling to cope with whatever life has thrown at them.

Volunteers from Putney are also involved in outreach work, for example in schools and youth centres, and on the railway through a partnership with Network Rail.

Shona Synnott, Director at Putney Samaritans, welcomes the opportunity to celebrate the difference their volunteers make in their local community - the charity covers the South West London area from the Putney branch.

“I’m so grateful to all of our volunteers at Putney. I want to thank them all for their commitment and hard work. It’s great to see how they support people in ways that work well for our callers, on the phone, via email or visiting us in branch. We know that people who are struggling benefit from having a real person to connect with, someone who is trained to listen to them.

“Samaritans wouldn’t exist without the dedication of our volunteers. As well as listening on the helpline, there are lots of ways people can get involved with Samaritans, whether it’s fundraising, marketiJune 15, 2015lls. We are always looking for new volunteers, so get in touch.”

“Samaritans are ordinary people from all walks of life and the mix of ages, backgrounds and experiences they have is surprising,” says project manager, Karin, who has volunteered at Putney Samaritans for over four years. “If anyone is thinking about becoming a Samaritan then the most important quality they’ll need is the ability to listen, empathise and truly connect one human being to another.”

Samaritans is available round the clock, every single day of the year. We provide a safe place for anyone struggling to cope, whoever they are, however they feel, whatever life has thrown at them.

*Calls for help include all contacts received by Samaritans in the UK and ROI in 2014, and includes helpline calls, emails, text messages and face to face contacts with Samaritans volunteers.

June 11, 2015