Real People, Real Stories FAQs 2022

Samaritans’ Real People, Real Stories is an award-winning campaign supported by The NFU Mutual Charitable Trust and the Scottish Government. It aims to reach men in rural communities who are struggling to cope and encourage them to seek help by contacting Samaritans for free on 116 123 or visiting Samaritans.org.

Launching on 1 March across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the campaign will run until 21 March 2022.

Phase one of our campaign launched in March 2019 and was carefully developed and researched with the help of our target audience. We spoke to men who have been through tough times and struggled with life, perhaps as a result of debt, homelessness, job loss, relationship breakdown, and/or experienced suicidal thoughts.

Some of these men were asked to share their stories to inspire others to talk about their struggles and to seek help when they need it.

Phase two of the campaign focused on men sharing their experiences of lockdown during the pandemic and how this affected their mental health. We carried out research with almost 2,000 men aged 20-59 in July 2020 to establish some of the key impacts of the pandemic and hear their stories.

We know that a campaign featuring people with real experience and positive stories of recovery and hope is extremely powerful in encouraging other people who are finding life tough too.*

Building on the success of previous phases, phase three will run from 1 March to 21 March 2022. It will share real stories from men who have been through tough times to encourage other men to seek help before they reach crisis point.

* Niederkrotenthaler et al (2010). Role of media reports in completed and prevented suicide: Werther v. Papageno effects. British Journal of Psychiatry, 197, 234–243.

In the UK and Ireland, men are three to four times more likely to die by suicide than women*.

Real People, Real Stories is just one of Samaritans’ campaigns that sits alongside a breadth of activity that aims to help anyone struggling to cope.

* C. Simms et al., ‘Suicide Statistics Report: Latest Statistics for the UK and Republic of Ireland.’ (Surrey, UK: Samaritans, 2019

We're hoping to reach as many people as possible with our Real People, Real Stories campaign.

We have several new case study films for the campaign and their stories will be shared on local radio stations, across digital and social channels, in the media and on our website. Look out for some advertising in selected farming trade press.

We hope that this campaign will help more people stop, listen, and know that Samaritans is there for anyone who’s finding life tough.

We hope everyone will get behind it and share our case study videos with the hashtag #RealPeopleRealStories

The NFU Mutual Charitable Trust and the Scottish Government are supporting Real People, Real Stories and Samaritans' work in rural communities.

You can find out more about the support of the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust here.

No, it is an awareness campaign. However, it is the public’s kind donations that keep Samaritans' service running. Donations will be welcomed and can be made here.

Please do help us make the campaign a success. You can watch the real stories from real men who have been through tough times.

You can also support by following the campaign @samaritanscharity on Instagram or sharing the video @samaritans on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #RealPeopleRealStories.

Please look out for the campaign and share it with your friends, family, neighbours and colleagues to help us reach as many people as possible with this important message.

Suicide is a very complex issue and often there isn’t one main reason why someone has suicidal thoughts or decides to take their own life. If you’re worried about someone, we have some advice here on signs to look out for.

Many people struggle to cope at one point or another of their lives. Experiencing a range of emotions during these times is common. You might not always be able to spot these signs, and these emotions show up differently in everyone.

• Feeling restless and agitated
• Feeling tearful
• Not wanting to talk to or be with people
• Not wanting to do things you usually enjoy
• Using alcohol or drugs to cope with feelings
• Finding it hard to cope with everyday things
• Not replying to messages or being distant.

Some people do not exhibit any signs of being suicidal but go on to attempt to take their own lives which underlines the complexity of this issues.

Whatever you’re going through, you can call us free 24/7 on 116 123 or email us at [email protected].

We also have online resources.

If you would like emotional support in Welsh, we have a Welsh Language Line which is free to call on 0808 164 0123.

• Listen
• Be patient, try and encourage them to move to a place of safety. Keep them talking and focus on listening to them – it may take a little while to get a response from them initially
• Talk to them about their feelings. Information about how to have difficult conversations is available on our website
• Encourage them to contact us. They can call on 116 123, email [email protected], visit one of our branches in person or send us a letter
• You can contact us on their behalf. If you call us or email, we can reach out to them. We won't tell them you asked us to do that unless you want us to
• If you think they are in immediate danger, you can call an ambulance on 999. We can call an ambulance on your behalf.

Feeling actively suicidal is often temporary, even if someone has been feeling low, anxious or struggling to cope for a long period of time. This is why getting the right kind of support at the right time is so important. Suicide is not inevitable and it is preventable.