EAST COAST SAMARITANS OUTREACH TEAM VISIT CREAGH COLLEGE, GOREY 9/5/24

Outreach volunteers from East Coast Samaritans, Arklow were delighted to be invited by Creagh College, Gorey to visit the school and talk to the TY students about the work being done by Samaritan’s.

On arrival at the school the sun was shining and the school was humming with activity as students arrived from all over Gorey and the surrounding hinterland for their usual Thursday classes. We were greeted warmly by the staff and escorted through the building to a large and airy room where we were to be introduced to six classes of Transition Year students. It was decided to split the group into two sessions of three classes each.

Quietly and shyly students entered the room not sure of what to expect. Surprisingly, when asked, most students had never heard of Samaritans so a volunteer opened the talk with a brief history of the organisation, how it was opened in 1961, grew to 13 branches throughout Ireland, with three satellite branches and 8 branches in Northern Ireland. East Coast Samaritans, Arklow proudly opened its branch in 2014 and currently has 80 volunteers.

Samaritans vision is that fewer people pass away by suicide. There is always someone available 24/7 to help anyone in distress, by freephone and email.

A volunteer then stepped up chatted with the students on why people contact the Samaritans outlining that many people struggle in daily life with:

Isolation

Loneliness

Family issues

Bullying

Exams

Stress

Fear of change

Substance abuse

Self-harm

Bereavement

Many other reasons

The volunteer emphasized the importance of emotional support and where it could be found. He encouraged students to talk and to listen to one another, to speak to a trusted adult or to contact Samaritans if they are struggling. It is important that the students know there is no shame in seeking help. Our volunteers can be contacted by FREEPHONE 24/7 or by email: [email protected]. All calls are confidential although it was explained safe guarding issues. He reassured the group that we will listen, be non-judgmental, give the caller time to express themselves, help them talk through their problem and that we won’t tell you what to do.

Listening skills are an important part of helping anyone who may be struggling and another volunteer explained to the students that this skill could be learned and gave tips on how to become good listener by using the ‘listening wheel’. The difference between listening and active listening was also discussed and the students were encouraged to practice active listening in their daily life. The volunteer also explained to the students what to expect when they contacted the helpline and how a call is handled.

Students were still shy and so in order to encourage them to ask questions. A volunteer handed out ‘prizes’ to those who spoke. The prizes consisted of the Samaritan wristbands, pens and teabags. We did explain that there was ‘one for everyone in the audience’. This ice-breaker got the crowd to relax and fully engage and as a result the questions came thick and fast with the volunteers responding to queries from the meaning of empathy to the difference between bereavement and grieving. Other interesting questions were about the qualifications needed in order to become a volunteer, what the training consisted of and how old do you need to be to become a listening volunteer.

In rounding up the sessions the subject of self harm was addressed by another Samaritan who explained it could manifest itself in many different ways such as physical cutting to emotional over/under eating, obsessive computer gaming to acting the fool at school, substance abuse and many more.

Finally the talk was concluded with a reminder that Samaritans are non-judgmental, a safe place to talk in total confidence, available 24/7 and to invite the students to use some of the resources and contact numbers we handed out should they require more information or support from Samaritans. Posters and mouse mats along with Samaritan tea bags were given to the Creagh College staff.