What to expect when you talk to us

You don’t even have to tell us your name.

We want you to feel safe while talking to us, so you can tell us how you’re really feeling. That’s why in most situations and for most people we are a confidential service.

However, there are important exceptions to this where our safeguarding policy means we may tell someone, for example, by calling an ambulance. Read more about when we do this.

Talking to someone you don't know can sometimes feel easier than talking to someone you do know, because you don't have to worry about their feelings or what they might think about you.

We might ask your name, because it’s a natural question to ask in a conversation, or because of something you have said to us, but you don’t have to tell us if you prefer not to.

When you call Samaritans, your number is not displayed to our volunteer. The phones we use don’t have caller display information on them.

If you've emailed us, your email address will not be shown to the volunteer.

And if you're writing, we need your address, and a name to reply, but we won't store that, and also we'll shred your letter afterwards.

When you call us on 116 123, you will be put through to a volunteer at one of more than 200 branches and locations across the UK and Ireland.

We aim for everyone to get through to someone straight away, but sometimes this is not always possible as it depends on the number of volunteers we have on the phones at that time.

If you email us at [email protected] we aim to respond within 24 hours.

If you've written us a letter, we aim to get you a response in 7 days.

You can check our branches opening times here. It can be helpful to call ahead and arrange a time to come in.

When we are worried about your safety or that you are being hurt either by your own actions or by someone else, we want to help you to find the best way to keep yourself safe.

We will do this by listening and by talking to you about what you want to do. Most of the time whatever you tell us will stay between you and Samaritans.

However, if we feel that you are unable to protect yourself sometimes we might need to tell someone else what you’ve told us to be able to help you.

This will apply to all young people under 18 and under some circumstances to adults at risk. You can read more about our safeguarding policy here.

If, for example, you are not able to make a decision about your own safety because you don’t understand the risks, if you cannot remember the situation you are in, or if you lose consciousness whilst you are on the phone to us. We can only help in these situations if we have information which identifies you.

In other less urgent situations we may be able to help with other information like:

• First and second name
• Where someone lives
• Where someone works or studies
• Someone’s address
• Someone’s e-mail address
• Someone’s mobile or home phone number
• Someone’s exact location at the time.

It is important to know that you can decide what information you choose to share with us.

Even if you have told us this information, it does not mean we will automatically tell someone else. We would always want to help you to explore your feelings about your situation and to help you make the decisions that are right for you.

We will ask you questions when talking to you to help you do this, and to make sure we understand what you are telling us.

If we determine that we do need tell someone else these are of some of the things that might happen:

• Your details may be passed to people who'll be able to get help to you, like the ambulance service
• If you're in immediate danger of being hurt by someone else, we may ask the police to come and check, or do something to make sure that you're safe
• If you’ve told us that a child is in danger, we may need to get them help. Sometimes the only way of doing that will be to contact you and ask you for more details. It may be the police that help us with this
• We might ask social services to arrange to speak to you and see how they might be able to help you.

If you do not share your details with us, we are unable to contact you other than replying to an email you may have sent us.

We take your confidentiality very seriously and will only consider speaking to someone else if we are really worried about what you have told us and we feel that you are unable to make decisions.

We won’t make decisions for you, and we'll support the decisions you make.

You are the expert on your own life. Our advice or opinions are not important.

If you want specific advice, we may be able to give you contact details for organisations that specialise in helping with a problem you may have.

We’re not religious. The link between our name and any religious text is completely coincidental.

Our listeners will never impose any personal attitudes or beliefs on you.

People contact us with all sorts of concerns and what might be a small issue to you may be huge to someone else.

You could be going through something new or have been struggling to cope for some time, either way, we're here if you feel you need some extra support.

If what’s getting to you isn’t on this list, please still get in touch.

Common reasons people contact us are:

• relationship and family problems
• loss, including loss of a friend or a family member through bereavement
• financial worries
• job-related stress
• college or study-related stress
• loneliness and isolation
• depression
• painful and/or disabling physical illness
• heavy use of or dependency on alcohol or other drugs
• thoughts of suicide

Some people do not have the support of friends or family. Others do have friends or family to talk to, but find that talking to someone neutral can also be beneficial.

We keep our conversations private, so we can't pass the information you give us onto anyone else and we won't judge or insist on giving advice.