Our volunteers have been providing an invaluable service to everyone who needs it, 24 hours a day, since 1953. Our national network of branches form the backbone of our work, and from them we reach out into the community by visiting schools, colleges and universities, prisons, workplaces, public sector organisations and major music festivals.
What sort of people become volunteers?
Samaritans volunteers need to be able to listen. They are not professional counsellors. They can also:
- Question gently, tactfully – without intruding.
- Encourage people to tell their own story in their own time and space.
- Refrain from offering advice and instead offer confidential emotional support.
- Always try to see the other point of view, regardless of their own religious or political beliefs.
Would you like to become a volunteer for Samaritans?
Samaritans is always looking for new people to join our 16,534 other volunteers in providing emotional support to vulnerable people. We look for people with the ability to listen, without passing judgement. You don’t need formal qualifications or previous experience, but a natural ability to listen and remain open-minded is essential.
If you volunteer as a ‘listener’ during the day or night, you’ll develop the confidence and precious know-how to turn your natural instinct to want to help someone in difficulty into positive, sometimes life-changing support by phone, email, text message, letter, and face-to-face.
There are other ways you can volunteer for Samaritans to help your local branch run smoothly. You could offer support with:
- Fundraising.
- Administration.
- Finance - for example as a treasurer at your local branch.
The hours of a shift vary quite a lot from branch to branch. Typically, once you are trained you will be asked to do a shift of 3 or 4 hours a week with 1 overnight shift a month.
To find out more information about volunteering for Samaritans call 08705 62 72 82 or visit www.samaritans.org
Case studies
Nicky, 38, is a partially-sighted volunteer who has been volunteering with Southampton branch for 4 years
I reached the decision to volunteer for Samaritans as a close friend of mine suffered from depression. We would chat regularly and she always mentioned how talking things through, and having someone to listen to her made a real difference to how she was feeling. I realised how powerful the skill of listening was, and really wanted to support others in the same way.
When I started volunteering with Samaritans my confidence was quite low - I didn’t have a guide dog and life was quite a struggle at time. As soon as I joined Southampton Samaritans my confidence grew, bit by bit with the help of my fellow volunteers who are fantastic.
Before I had my guide dog Wendy, getting to the centre was definitely the main challenge of being a partially-sighted Samaritans volunteer. I was hit by a car on the way to the branch before I had her and this caused me a lot of worry and difficulty for quite some time. I am lucky with my role at Samaritans as the paperwork is minimal and I get a lot of support with that. I often need assistance with reading the rota and finding information; it helps if texts and visuals are enlarged for me, which they often are. My fellow volunteers also give me lifts to meetings and other events – they are always willing to help me if there is something I can’t manage.
Southampton branch has a lift for physically disabled volunteers, and the stairs are clearly marked so that they are easy to see or feel underfoot for completely blind volunteers. The stairs have handrails which are useful for me as my balance is dreadful!
Our branch has access for disabled callers who make face-to-face visits to the branch. Our interview rooms are on the ground floor so they are accessible for wheelchair users and people who find climbing stairs difficult. All the volunteers at the branch are very conscientious and know how to respond if a visually impaired person in need of emotional support visits the branch.
It is crucially important that Samaritans continues to offer emotional support through different communications methods. If people need emotional support, they must have access to it. Samaritans takes this very seriously and we pride ourselves on treating everyone as equals. The RNID came to the branch a few months ago to help us to understand the needs of hard-of-hearing callers.
We encourage and welcome disabled volunteers, as the skills that they bring to the branch are every bit as valuable as anyone else’s. When I first started training it was wonderful being welcomed by such a positive and enthusiastic team. My fellow volunteers asked what could be done to make things easier for me but, most importantly, I was treated as an equal. I had previously spent years of being treated differently, which had led me to feeling isolated from people. At Samaritans I was immediately made to feel welcome and respected which has led me to be where I am today.
I spend quite a lot of time at the Southampton branch of Samaritans as I am Deputy Director for Volunteer Care. On a typical day I get up at around 7.30am and spend a few minutes saying ‘good morning’ to my guide dog, Wendy, who is normally busy running round and round in circles with her favourite toy called Nosey! I have breakfast and let Wendy out in the garden to stretch her legs before giving her a brush and cleaning her teeth with her favourite poultry flavoured toothpaste. We catch the bus in to the centre of Southampton which takes about 50 minutes. As soon as we get off the bus, Wendy knows exactly where we are going and we make our way to the branch, which takes around 20 minutes. Wendy likes going into the branch as there are always other volunteers there to make a fuss of her – I am sure she thinks she is the most valued member of Southampton Samaritans!
Wendy settles down in her bed with a bone, toy and bowl of water while I make myself a cup of coffee. I usually do shifts of around three hours. When I am at the branch, Wendy relaxes, occasionally getting up to provide a warm welcome to volunteers coming in to the building. For Wendy, Southampton Samaritans is a home from home and I guess it is for me too!
At the end of my shift we pack up all Wendy’s things and leave the branch. Quite often I will meet friends for coffee in Southampton or do some shopping before heading home. Wendy eats once a day at 5pm and I like to make sure we are at home by this time every day. I usually spend my evenings watching TV, though twice a month I have evening meetings at the branch which Wendy grunts and snores her way through! Wendy settles on her bed every evening and I always give her two small biscuits before I go to bed. It is always easy to tell how satisfied Wendy has been with her day, as the more content and tired she feels, the more she snores! The sign of a happy dog!
Volunteering has had a huge impact on my confidence, my independence, and the way that I feel about myself. I am making a difference by being there for our callers, but also being a team member and supporting my fellow volunteers. Volunteering for Samaritans makes me feel good about myself; I am doing something that I feel passionate about and that makes me feel happy.
If you feel that you would like to offer emotional support to people in distress and work as part of a team, then please get in contact with us. The support that we offer our callers, and also each other, makes us a really close and caring group of people who give up our time to help others. The rewards of volunteering are huge – I have met so many amazing people and made so many friends. Our volunteers are so diverse but we all have one thing in common – Samaritans.
Accountant Darren Matthews, 35, is Branch Director of Bridgend Samaritans
When I was 7 years old I started volunteering with the British Red Cross. My parents and two younger brothers were also volunteers and we were brought up to see that we should do things for others without being paid or receiving anything in return. From an early age I gained a valuable insight into the benefits of volunteering and it is a normal part of my everyday life.
I grew up in the ex-mining village of Blaengwynfi, in the Afan Valley, South Wales and went to school at Cymer Afan Comprehensive. In my early 20s I studied accountancy and completed my professional accountancy exams in 2002 qualifying as a Chartered Certified Accountant.
I started volunteering with Samaritans in April 2003 and I have been Director of the Bridgend branch for 2 years. The main duties of a Branch Director include responsibility for the delivery of Samaritans’ service on a branch level, caller care issues, acting as a media spokesperson and maintaining a positive public image of Bridgend Samaritans.
Nobody applies to become a Branch Director; the branch nominates you after a long, confidential process. If selected, you are given a period of time to accept or reject the offer of the position. If you choose to accept the position of Branch Director you will attend a New Director School. This is a weekend residential course to train and prepare new Directors for the role. Subjects covered in the course include Samaritans’ policies and procedures, time management and change management.
The past year and a half has been a particularly challenging time for Bridgend Samaritans. Six months into my role as Director, Bridgend was rocked by a large suicide cluster that continued throughout 2008. The demands placed on the branch and, indeed, myself personally were extreme. From dealing with interview requests from international media to managing new awareness campaigns whilst continuing to carry out all the everyday duties within the branch proved tough. It was emotionally and physically draining at times, but we got through it with the support of fellow volunteers, friends and family.
The effect on the branch at the time of the cluster of suicides was immense. The level of press enquiries was unbelievable with calls coming into the branch, Samaritans’ central office and my own mobile and landline. It was quite an operation dealing with the media. The morale of volunteers was affected by some of comments that were made in the press (though negative comments were in the minority). We had to increase outreach and awareness campaigns to unprecedented levels and volunteers put their lives on hold so we could do as much work as possible. Volunteer enquiries rose sharply in 2008 and this put additional pressure on recruitment and training teams.
The media’s interest in the suicides in Bridgend has undoubtedly helped raise awareness of emotional support services like Samaritans – as the media reporting was across the globe. Now people not only recognise Samaritans but they also understand what we do. There is still a lot of work to be done, but we have taken huge steps forward in raising awareness, not only amongst the general public but also within political circles. An unexpected consequence of Bridgend has been a renewed interest by policy makers into suicide prevention. Both Westminster and the Welsh Assembly have come to us for guidance in this work. In an ideal world the deaths would not have happened, but we are now working dually with both governments to prevent future deaths.
With the tragic events taking place in our community, we had people as young as 16 making enquiries about becoming listening volunteers at the branch. This had never happened before. Listeners have to be a minimum age of 18 and therefore we could not offer them these roles. I could see the enthusiasm and motivation in these young individuals – they really wanted to help. I knew that other charities had ambassadors so I thought that the Youth Ambassador programmes could work well for us. Jesse Owens was appointed as the first Youth Ambassador for Bridgend Samaritans. His role is about connecting with young people and showing them that Samaritans is relevant to them. He does this by meeting them at schools and public events. Jesse also advises the branch on awareness campaigns targeted at young people – he offers a different perspective.
The ‘Feet on the Street' campaign was always something I wanted to do – I talked about it on my very first night as Director. I felt that we needed to reach out to those people who are not coming to us even though they need emotional support. The project involves volunteers going out onto the streets of Bridgend on a Saturday night between 9pm and 2am to be there for those who might need some support whilst on a night out, or perhaps even those who are homeless.
When I became Director I didn't have enough volunteers to start the project so I decided to postpone it until May 2008. In February last year, I was approached by a local landlord whose public house had turned into a crisis centre the previous weekend with young people crying and breaking down whilst remembering a friend who had died. They asked if we could help and the most natural thing to do seemed to be ‘Feet on the Street’. After a lot of running around gathering volunteers together, we ran the first shift on 25 February 2008, with the help of 21 volunteers from Bridgend, Cardiff and Haverfordwest.
A year on, the project is now a permanent feature of the branch and has been a huge success, reaching those who would never have picked up the phone or written an email.
At 27 years old, primary school teacher Gina is one of the younger volunteers at Kingston Samaritans.
I grew up in the London Borough of Richmond and after graduating from University I worked as a Sports Development Officer. It was at this time that I decided to undertake some voluntary work in my spare time. I didn’t have a preference of a charity so I contacted the Richmond Voluntary Bureau. They gave me information about a ‘listening service’ information evening. I attended the information evening about the ‘listening service’ (which was Samaritans) and the rest is history as they say!
At the age of 23, after two years of volunteering with Samaritans, I decided to take a year out to go to Australia. The Branch Director was understanding about me taking a leave of absence but said she thought I would find myself a hunky Aussie and not return to England! Alas, I didn’t find the man of my dreams! I came back to the UK after a year and went straight into retraining as a volunteer at Kingston Branch.
There are so many different ways people can get involved in volunteering for Samaritans. The most obvious way is by becoming a listening volunteer offering emotional support to people by telephone, email and face to face. The training is comprehensive and the systems are ‘idiot’ proof. We also have support volunteers who do all kinds of things from fundraising, to premise maintenance and catering, to admin support and recruitment. There are teams within the branch who look after different areas of Samaritans including caller care, outreach, publicity and training.
Personally I don’t find it difficult fitting my volunteering duties in with my work and social life. The shifts are flexible, and you can have time off as long as you give plenty of notice. Rotas for listening shifts are available four weeks in advance and you can have these emailed to you to put in your diary. There has been the odd occasion where I’ve forgotten to give my availability or some impromptu social occasion has cropped up but I have always found someone to swap with me.
I don’t tell many people that I am a Samaritans volunteer because I would hate for someone to feel they couldn’t contact Samaritans for confidential support in case they ended up speaking to me. People that do know I volunteer are very complimentary and always say things like “Oh you’re so good, I wish I wasn’t so selfish with my time”. I don’t really think of it like that because I get a lot more from volunteering for Samaritans than I give.
There are lots of young Samaritans at Kingston branch. We have large Universities and Colleges close to the branch which is brilliant for attracting students from those institutions and for raising awareness of our service amongst a vulnerable age group.
There are always lots of social events organised by the branch when we are off-duty. Volunteering for Samaritans has been a great way to establish new friendships. The support system within the branch is excellent and you can’t leave the building without debriefing to a Leader. I always try to arrive at the branch 15 minutes before my duty starts which allows me to leave my life outside of Samaritans’ door and vice versa.
Outside of my Samaritans duties I enjoy playing netball, hockey and golf. A typical day in my life involves waking up at 6am and dragging myself out of bed! I have some breakfast and then debate whether I’m going to drive or cycle to school! I really enjoy teaching and the school day goes by in the blink of an eye. After I have finished work I go home, have dinner and will then head off to do a Samaritans listening shift or I will go to netball training, for drinks with friend, or to play a game of golf. I will generally arrive home late, watch some TV and check emails before falling asleep ready to do the same again the next day!.
Volunteering for Samaritans has given me a greater perspective on my own life and a better understanding of others’ lives.
Patrick is a 33-year-old railway signaller and is a night time listener and Branch Publicity Officer at Grimsby Samaritans
Through gaining a greater awareness and understanding of feelings and emotions I am able to support people in emotional distress and develop better relationships with people in my personal and professional life.
We literally are a lifeline for many people. I really would encourage people to volunteer for Samaritans and make a difference.
I grew up in Grimsby and enjoyed a happy childhood, but life began to change for me when I realised I was homosexual. I struggled to come to terms with this and suffered a lot of homophobic bullying at school. By the mid 1990’s I was feeling very low and was still uncomfortable with my sexuality when my grandparents passed away. The combination of repressed feelings and bereavement meant my emotional health was at an all-time low and I was diagnosed with depression. It took some time to work through this and regain my emotional strength, with the help of many people, but I bounced back stronger with greater resilience. In 2000 I finally made the decision to ’come out’ to my family and friends.
The past ten years have been challenging as I lost my Mum and younger sister to cancer, but I have learned to cope with life.
When I was struggling emotionally, I obtained help from my GP and was lucky enough to have the support of my family and friends. I wondered afterwards how it would have been if I’d not received that support and encouragement. Who would I have turned to? Who would have been there for me? How bad would things have got? Would I have felt suicidal? Having considered all of these questions I really came to appreciate the work of Samaritans. I remembered seeing a Samaritans banner around the same time, it said: “Whatever you’re going through, we’ll go through it with you” and it totally resonated with me. I knew that I wanted to become a Samaritans volunteer.
I have been a volunteer with Samaritans for seven years and fit shifts in around my day job and family circumstances. As a 24-hour service there is a lot of flexibility available. Some weeks I volunteer for five hours but another week I might do twenty hours. My role as Branch Publicity Officer involves publicising and promoting the work of Grimsby Samaritans and the level of work involved within this role differs on a weekly basis.
I inform the general public about the work of the branch and raise awareness of Samaritans service, looking for different and innovative ways to promote the charity. I liaise with local press, sending them press releases and acting as media spokesperson for the branch, and also arrange fundraising events and attend meetings to develop relationships with other organisations that share similar values to Samaritans. It’s an exciting and varied role and I always have something new to focus on, but the best part of being Branch Publicity Officer is that you get to see the results of your hard work and receive recognition for Samaritans.
I do night time listening shifts at my branch as it works best with my work commitments. Grimsby Samaritans works on a five-hour night shift rota where volunteers are either on duty from 10pm - 3am or 3am - 8am.
There is lots of demand for Samaritans service during the night with people feeling more alone and isolated and extremely appreciative of the time we offer them so it is important that there are volunteers available to take calls. When we’re not taking telephone calls we are supporting callers by email or face-to-face. Our branch has never been busier, I’d say we literally are a lifeline for many people.
Listening is the biggest skill I have developed as a Samaritans volunteer. It doesn’t sound much, but it’s invaluable. Through gaining a greater awareness and understanding of feelings and emotions I am able to support people in emotional distress and develop better relationships with people in my personal and professional life.
At the beginning of the year I was shortlisted for the local ‘Volunteer of the Year’ awards in recognition of my achievements and dedication at Grimsby Samaritans. As Branch Publicity Officer I’m not usually lost for words, but I was this time. It was a real honour to be nominated and shortlisted.
I really would encourage people to volunteer for Samaritans and make a difference. Samaritans offers a training programme where you are fully supported every step of the way, learning valuable life skills and making new friends in the process.
As well as listening and responding to callers you can support Samaritans in many other ways. We need people who can support us with fundraising, publicity, and administration - there are endless opportunities. Samaritans is a unique and highly respected organisation which has made a huge impact on our society, but that has only happened through the dedication and commitment of volunteers and supporters.
Paul Stockton, 48, is one of Samaritans’ busiest volunteers. As well as being a listening volunteer at Cardiff branch, Paul is also Samaritans’ National Marketing Co-ordinator and Regional Representative for Wales and The Marches.
“I have been a volunteer with Samaritans for 28 years and during that time I have been a member of four branches; Portsmouth, Central London, Festival and Cardiff.
I started my cultural career working in London, promoting and marketing theatre productions across the West End and moved to Wales in 1992. My job involves managing and marketing cultural organisations and I am currently working with a physical theatre/dance company called Earthfall and composer John Hardy. I am a national advisor to the Arts Council of Wales and a member of the Standards and Ethics Committee of Cardiff City Council. I also lecture on marketing and organisational behaviour part-time at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama on the post-graduate Arts Administration and Marketing course and am a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
As Samaritans’ National Marketing Co-ordinator I chair a group of 13 Regional Marketing Officers which is made up of volunteers who co-ordinate and support the marketing activity of the branches in their region. I am the link between the marketing team at Samaritans’ General Office and the volunteer leadership of Samaritans. My role includes providing advice and support on campaign development, internal and external communications, and general marketing support.
The common message that Samaritans communicates in its marketing materials is that listening and talking about emotions is an important set of personal skills, because exploring feelings alleviates distress and helps people to reach a better understanding of their situation and the options open to them.
You can volunteer as a Branch Marketing Officer or a Regional Marketing Officer without being a Samaritans listening volunteer. Marketing is a professional skill and branches across the organisation are always looking for people with professional skills who can help support the delivery of our 24/7 service.
As a Regional Representative I work with a team of Regional Officers to ensure the operational delivery of Samaritans’ service by 13 Branches within Wales and The Marches. My duties include setting up and attending national and regional meetings to develop the service and discuss implementing new initiatives. I also support Branch Directors on management issues.
There is never a ‘typical day’ in my life – each day is very different. However, I usually get up around 6am and respond to my Samaritans-related emails first. My inbox can have 50 emails in each morning! I then go to work and on an average day I take about 8 calls related to my duties with Samaritans. I usually get home around 6pm and if I am not doing a listening shift at my branch, or visiting another branch in the region, I like to relax with some good food, walk the dog and watch TV. Sometimes it is difficult to ‘switch off’ from my duties as a Samaritans volunteer but I am lucky as my partner and friends are so supportive and this makes it easy to continue to have a social life! Samaritans is a great organisation for providing support to its volunteers which ensures they don’t take ‘stuff’ home with them.
The roles I have within Samaritans require some personal discipline. Samaritans is a 24:7 service and I am on call around the clock to support branches (though my phone rarely rings in the middle of the night.) I have a very supportive partner (who is also a Samaritans volunteer) and the support he has provided me during the three years of being Regional Representative has proved invaluable.
Samaritans brand has developed substantially over the years I have been volunteering. Almost 30 years ago, Samaritans was known purely as a suicide prevention helpline. Samaritans has now repositioned itself to be the charity that supports people struggling with any type of emotions. If you need someone to talk to, to listen to you, Samaritans would like to be the support service you call first, rather than be the helpline you make your last ever call too.
I act as a media spokesperson for Samaritans and this involves doing a lot of television and radio interviews. A humorous tale about my experience as a media spokesperson for Samaritans relates to when I did an interview for the PM programme on Radio 4. I listen to the programme on a regular basis and am always really impressed with the way Eddie Mayer interviews. I received a call from Radio 4 asking me to do an interview with him ‘down the line’ from Cardiff studios. When I got to the studio, I was ushered into a little box where I put on the headphones and started listening to the programme. I was engrossed in the programme and suddenly heard Eddie say “and now I am going to be speaking to Paul Stockton from Samaritans in Wales” and I thought to myself “this should be good” – then I realised it was me! I’ve been interviewed by Eddie twice now and I must admit I am a bit star struck by him.
There are so many benefits of volunteering for Samaritans, but the main one is that you get to meet people from all walks of life and you all share the same core beliefs. I have met some incredibly inspirational people within Samaritans who have made an impact upon my own life - I would never have met them without being a Samaritans volunteer.
Hollie, 62, is a Personnel Manager from Derby and volunteer for Samaritans Correspondence branch.
As a Samaritans Correspondence branch volunteer I receive letters weekly to my house. People seeking emotional support by letter write to the Correspondence branch (based in Scotland) and these are then distributed to Samaritans volunteers around the country. When we receive a letter from someone in need of emotional support, a reply is sent to them within 48 hours. After the initial contact is made with an individual, any subsequent letter from him/her will be sent to the same Samaritans volunteer to reply. Letters from new people contacting us are sent out to Samaritans Correspondence volunteers in rotation.
All volunteers have the support of a mentor. The initial training ensures that we have the right skills and knowledge to provide emotional support to people by letter. As part of our ongoing training, we meet in Scotland twice a year for a conference, over two weekends. We also have regular meetings with other Samaritans volunteers situated closest to us.
People write to Samaritans about many issues - anecdotally they are very similar reasons to of the reasons people contact us by email, face-to-face and telephone. The main difference is that people who write to Samaritans by letter tend to need ongoing support. They may have problems with depression or coming to terms with the death of someone close to them, for example. Offering people emotional support by letter is not as immediate as using Samaritans’ other methods of contact but people can pick up the phone 24/7 to speak to someone.
The number of letters I respond to differs week by week - sometimes it may be one or even none, then six or seven the next week. The confidentiality of every person who writes to Samaritans is paramount and every volunteer keeps letters secure in a locked filing cabinet.
Over 41% of contacts who wrote letters to Samaritans in 2008 were suicidal. The reasons people contact Samaritans by letter are as diverse as the reasons people contact us by telephone.
The number of letters Samaritans has been receiving has been increasing year-on-year since 2003 when around 1000 letters were received, to over 1500 letters in 2007. Many people feel more comfortable being supported by the written word.
Many people need a sounding board to help work out solutions to problems and often need someone to clarify what these problems might be. Letting feelings out to another human being might be what is required, but not everyone can do this by telephone. Writing a letter is an alternative for people who prefer to communicate in this way. Individuals who write to Samaritans have the same understanding and care given to them as that of an email, face-to-face, or telephone caller.
People can write to Samaritans for emotional support at
Chris
P.O. Box 90 90
Stirling
FK8 2SA
