Our vision, mission and strategic priorities - Ireland
Samaritans’ vision is that fewer people die by suicide
To achieve this, we believe Samaritans has a crucial role to play in:
- Reducing the risk factors that make some people more likely to take their own lives.
- Ensuring that people who are at increased risk of suicide are supported.
- Making it less likely that people who do experience suicidal thoughts act on them.
- Reducing the likelihood that people will develop suicidal thoughts.
Our mission
We are here every day and night of the year for anyone struggling to cope. We make sure people have somewhere to turn and support when they need it most. We work with communities to let people know we’re here for them and we campaign to make suicide prevention a priority.
Our strategic priorities 2022–27
We have worked closely with people who have contacted Samaritans, been affected by suicide or suicidal thoughts, and those who volunteer and work with us or support us, to identify five major ambitions for our new organisational strategy: to improve Access, Reach, Impact, Capacity and Sustainability.
In Samaritans Ireland, we also have an additional sixth priority: to strengthen our organisational Governance.
Over five years, we will build on our strengths and tackle the major challenges that currently limit us. We are working towards six outcomes across the island of Ireland, essential for achieving our vision of fewer lives lost to suicide:
- Access: we will make it easier for people to access our support when they need it, by ensuring they can get through to us in a way that works for them.
- Reach: we will increase the proportion of people we support who are more likely to be feeling suicidal, by being visible and relevant to a more diverse range of people and communities.
- Impact: we will amplify our life-saving impact in society, by influencing public policy, legislation, institutions and services in ways that will prevent more suicides.
- Capacity: we will increase in size to meet demand, by recruiting more people and reducing the pressure on them so they stay with us longer.
- Sustainability: we will ensure our long-term sustainability, by securing the funding needed to keep us strong and by taking steps to ensure our activities and organisation are fit for the future.
- Governance: we will maintain a highly effective and professional organisation across the island of Ireland.
These Samaritans Ireland specific objectives sit alongside objectives that will apply right across Ireland and the UK, as set out in the overarching five-year strategy for Samaritans. Each priority maps most strongly to one of the outcomes – noted below in bold – but will also contribute to others also noted.
We will take a phased approach to working on the above priorities, over five years, meaning that not everything will happen at once. More detailed plans on how we will deliver them will be developed during year one, as we work to increase capacity and capability, making sure we have a solid base from which to grow.
Our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion is one of the key principles in our new strategy. It will connect with everything we do at Samaritans, guiding the way we work and behave.