Could You Help the Samaritans’ This Christmas?

DONATIONS NEEDED - Samaritans is a unique charity dedicated to reducing feelings of isolation and disconnection that can lead to suicide. ‘Samaritans’ is a registered charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope, or at risk of suicide throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, often through their telephone helpline. 

Samaritans began in 1953 in London, founded by a vicar called Chad Varah.  Throughout his career Chad had offered counselling to his parishioners, and wanted to do something more specific to help people struggling to cope and possibly contemplating suicide.

The initial idea for Samaritans came from the first funeral Chad conducted early on in his career: a girl aged 14 had started her period, but having no one to talk to believed that she had a sexually transmitted disease and took her own life.

Chad was immensely moved by this senseless loss of life, “I might have dedicated myself to suicide prevention then and there, providing a network of people you could ‘ask’ about anything, however embarrassing, but I didn’t come to that until later”.

When Chad was offered charge of the parish of St Stephen in the summer of 1953 he knew that the time was right for him to launch what he called a “999 for the suicidal”. He was, in his own words, “a man willing to listen, with a base and an emergency telephone”.

The first call to the new service was made on 2nd November 1953 and this date is recognised as Samaritans’ official birthday.

Every six seconds the Samaritans responds to a call for help.

Last year Samaritans volunteers answered 10,652 calls for help on Christmas day alone.

Every year on average the Samaritans answer more than 5 million calls for help by phone, email, SMS, letter, face to face at their local branches and through their Welsh language service.

We're here 24/7, before, during and after a crisis.

Whether it’s an ‘are you ok?’ at just the right moment, or the midnight support of a trained volunteer; whether it's better training in the workplace or campaigning for more investment in national and local suicide prevention – there here.

The charity works to make sure there’s always someone there, for anyone who needs someone.

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