Our 50th anniversary

Until March 1974 there was only a befriending group for Samaritans in Banbury who raised funds for the Oxford branch, but thanks to the sterling efforts of the local Lions Club raising £1,000 in addition to other donations, we were able to open our own premises whilst still being supported by Oxford. We were initially based above M.A. French Electronics in Albert Street (now the monumental stonemasons) thanks to the support of Mr French and the Humphris family.

We started with 36 volunteers and the branch was open to personal callers between 6.30 pm and 10.00 pm every day and a volunteer slept on the premises to answer the phone until 8.00 am when Oxford took over the phone calls for the day time hours.

In those days branches all had individual local phone numbers meaning that the calls we received were from the Banbury district area; but the service we offered was, and always has been confidential, offering support to those in emotional distress. In our first full year of opening we responded to 1,433 requests for support which rose to 2,866 by 1976. In 2023 our 80+ volunteers answered 19,3252 phone calls and replied to 1,104 emails.

By 1995 we had outgrown our premises and in March of that year were fortunate to be able to move a few doors down to No 33 Albert Street where we remain and which was again due to the Humphris family who have been a constant presence both as landlords and supporters throughout our 50 years.

The need for Samaritans service has grown over the years and we continue to be supported by local organisations, businesses and of course our amazing volunteers and we thank them all.