On June 1st, 1959, a volunteer at the - then newly opened - Edinburgh branch took the first call to Samaritans outside of London. We've been here to listen, ever since.
The Edinburgh branch formed after Samaritans founder Chad Varah appealed to Scots to help expand his innovative new helpline; the first of its kind to provide confidential and non-judgmental emotional support to people in crisis or distress.
David Arthur was among the volunteers who expressed as interest in bringing Samaritans to Scotland and became one of the founding members. Reflecting on the first five years of Samaritan’s work in Scotland, he wrote:
“I am certain that it is this very normality, the art of being ordinary, which lies at the heart of being ordinary, which lies at the heart of the success of Samaritans.
The remark is often made: ‘I don’t know why I am talking to you like this, except that I don’t know you.’ The concealment of the confessional, the extraordinary confidence of the railway compartment, are mirrored in the absolute safety of coming to us.
If a person in trouble rings us, we ask them to come in and talk to us and by the very act of having come to us, they show a symbolic willingness to help themselves..”
The Edinburgh branch was soon joined by others in Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Dundee - and today there are now 19 branches in Scotland stretching from Selkirk to the Shetland Islands.
Demand for our services has grown considerably in over the decades. Volunteers at the Edinburgh branch answered to 550 calls for help in their first year. Last year volunteers at the same branch were contacted more than 45,000 times.
And across Scotland, volunteers were contacted nearly a quarter of a million times in 2018 - or once every two minutes. Between them volunteers in Scotland spent more than 60,000 hours offering emotional support to be people in crisis and distress. That’s the equivalent to 2,500 days of listening.
Just like 60 years ago we’re committed to being there to talk and to listen - day or night - for anyone who needs us. You can keep up to date with our latest news and events on Twitter and on Facebook.