The Builders Merchants Federation, which is based in Coventry, has been a major supporter of ours since 2013
In addition to arranging fund raising events on our behalf, the Builders Merchants Federation generously allow us to use their nearby headquarters completely free of charge during the evenings and at weekends.
We use the facilities on nearly fifty occasions a year and this represents a considerable financial cost saving to us as well as enhancing the range and quality of training and other events that we can provide. At Samaritans we put great emphasis on training and the BMF provides an ideal venue for the initial training of new Samaritans as well as the ongoing development of our volunteers. We also use the building to host other activities such as our Annual General Meeting, our Branch Conference and celebration events when our volunteers successfully become full Samaritans.
1 New volunteers meet at the BMF, our home from home. 2-4 We learn in a variety of ways before gaining about nine months experience of supporting callers under supervision. 5 After a satisfactory formal assessment you've done it! You are now a Samaritan
At a time when mental health awareness is increasing, the BMF is still proud to support the Samaritans by allowing them to continue using the BMF’s meeting facilities
John Newcomb, Chief Executive Officer, Builders Merchants Federation
If you would like to support us too, please send us an email.
You can read more about our partnership with the BMF in their quarterly magazine One Voice. We are featured in the Winter 2018 edition (page 17) and the Autumn 2019 edition (page 74)