Galway

Our History
Forty-seven years ago a small group of motivated people came together to consider the feasibility of starting a Samaritan's Branch in Galway – among them three people who had been volunteers in Dublin and Belfast, the rest without any previous Samaritan experience but some relevant talents – a general practitioner, a businessman, another professional medical person, a psychologist and couple of willing workers without any special training. We founded our first Centre in St Brendan’s Avenue, Galway. We held interviews and training classes with the help of the established Dublin, Limerick and Waterford Samaritans and after a year’s hard work we were able to open our doors with the first 64 Galway volunteers on May 10th, 1976.
Within a short time the volume of demand for our services grew to the point where our modest house in St Brendan’s Avenue could accommodate us no longer. This time the business people of Galway came to the rescue by raising enough money for us to move to our present premises in Nun’s Island, in 1986. We have been offering valuable support to the people of Ireland and especially Galway ever since.
Last year the Galway Branch of Samaritans received over 35,000 contacts from people who just needed someone to listen to them – these contacts were by phone, in person, by email or by text.

Our Volunteers
Listening volunteers spend three hours a week in our centre supporting all kinds of people who need a confidential, non-judgmental ear to listen at a tough time in their life. We talk to people on the phone, face-to-face in our visitor room at 14 Nun's Island and by email.

We also have a vital team of Support volunteers who give their time to help with fundraising, publicity and outreach work.

To find out more about volunteering at Galway Samaritans email: [email protected] and have a look at the Volunteer at Galway Samaritans Page

Our Community and Outreach Work
We have a very active second and third level education outreach program throughout Galway and Mayo, and we visit lots of sporting and social/activity clubs and attend many local events in support of positive mental health. We are also open to attend any meeting of a local club or organisation to discuss the supports that Samaritans have to offer. Send us an email to find out more or arrange for a meeting or visit from our outreach team [email protected]

Fundraising
Our branch is 100% volunteer run, we don't have any paid staff in our branch. We rely on donations from the community to keep our branch running 24 x 7 x 365. If you would like to donate to our branch or an interested in holding a fundraiser for us. See our Fundraising Page for more details. Your support makes a real difference.
To donate via SMS: Text ‘GALWAY’ to 50300 (€2 ), Text ‘SAMS’ to 50300 (€4 )

Keep up to date with us
See Our Branch News below for the latest news.
Twitter: @GalwaySamaritan
Facebook: @GalwaySamaritans

Our privacy statement

At Samaritans, privacy is at the heart of what we do. We are committed to protecting your privacy and the personal information that we hold. Read our privacy statement here.