Impact Report 2023-2024
As you read this, no matter what time it is, Samaritans volunteers across the UK and Ireland are responding, via phone, email, letter, online chat and in person, to people who are struggling to cope. Almost one in four of their conversations will mention suicidal feelings or behaviours.
This year, we marked 70 years of being there. In November 1953, the first ever call was answered to what was to become Samaritans’ helpline. This single act of humanity became a service involving tens of thousands of Samaritans who together over the years have answered more than 134 million calls for help. It’s an incredible achievement and we thank every volunteer and member of staff, past and present, for their contribution.
While the safe space and human connection offered by Samaritans hasn’t changed since we began, the world we live in is so very different. And right now, it’s tough. This year more than 400 calls a day were from people worried about their finances or unemployment.
Our callers are feeling the brunt of the cost-of-living crisis and so are we. Fundraising continues to be challenging, especially as costs continue to rise. We’ve had to make some really difficult decisions – stopping or postponing projects that we simply don’t have the funds for currently.
In fact, this year it became clear that we’re not going to be able to deliver everything we set out to do in our strategy to 2027. Yet this work is so important for our vision: that fewer people die by suicide. For this reason, in early 2024, our Board made the decision to extend our strategic period to 2029, giving us two more years to raise funds and do the work. We’ll review progress again in 2025.
Despite the challenges, you’ll see that we have continued to make progress against our strategic priorities and principles this year. For instance, volunteers and staff have worked hard to extend the opening hours for our online chat service and we’re proud to have played an instrumental role in shaping the Online Safety Act in Westminster and national suicide prevention strategies across the UK and Ireland.
This report gives many more examples of what we have achieved with the help of our supporters and how, seventy years after that very first call was taken, Samaritans remains vital, vibrant and worthy of your support. In 2024, we must inspire even more people and organisations to join us, so Samaritans can continue to be there for those people who need someone to listen without judgement.
Julie Bentley
Chief Executive
Keith Leslie
Chair of Trustees
Nat, a Samaritans volunteer in London