Volunteers' Week toolkit

Take a photo of yourself (or ask someone else to take it) holding one of our specially designed selfie signs. You could also get colleagues together for a group photo. You can then share your selfies on social media using our suggested posts below, or create your own.

If you don’t have a printer to print the selfie sign you could always draw or write it.

Don’t forget to tag Samaritans in your post using the below handles:

Twitter and LinkedIn: @Samaritans

Facebook and Instagram: @samaritanscharity

Twitter/ LinkedIn 

It’s #VolunteersWeek and we want to say a big thank you to our partner @Samaritans and its amazing volunteers. This year the charity marks 70 years of listening 💚

Thank you for being there for anyone who is struggling to cope, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Suggested Asset: Selfie sign photo or 'Thank You' animation

We want to say a massive thank you to all the amazing @Samaritans volunteers who have donated their time and compassion over the last 70 years to be there for people who are struggling to cope. Thank you for all that you do 💚 #VolunteersWeek

Suggested Asset: Selfie sign photo or 'Thank You' static asset

We’re taking time to celebrate all the incredible @Samaritans volunteers this week 💚 From listening volunteers to support volunteers, thank you for all that you do #VolunteersWeek

Suggested Asset: Selfie sign photo or 'Thank You' static asset

Instagram/ Facebook 

It’s #VolunteersWeek and we want to say a big thank you to our partner @samaritanscharity and its amazing volunteers. This year the charity marks 70 years of listening 💚

Thank you for being there for anyone who is struggling to cope, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Suggested Asset: Selfie sign photo or 'Thank You' animation

We want to say a massive thank you to all the amazing @samaritanscharity volunteers who have donated their time and compassion over the last 70 years to be there for people who are struggling to cope. Thank you for all that you do 💚 #VolunteersWeek

Suggested Asset: Selfie sign photo or 'Thank You' static asset

We’re taking time to celebrate all the incredible @samaritanscharity volunteers this week 💚 From listening volunteers to support volunteers, thank you for all that you do #VolunteersWeek

Suggested Asset: Selfie sign photo or 'Thank You' static asset

Celebrate Samaritans volunteers in the charity’s 70th year 

It’s Volunteers’ Week, an annual celebration to recognise the vital contribution that volunteers make to thousands of charities across the UK.

From 1-7 June we’ll be celebrating our partners Samaritans, and the amazing work its volunteers do to be there for people who are struggling to cope, 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

This year Samaritans will reach an incredible milestone as it marks 70 years of listening. The charity is using this opportunity to highlight that its volunteers have been there to listen for 70 years and to remind people that Samaritans is needed more than ever.

The charity has more than 23,000 volunteers who give their time, whether responding to calls for help as a listening volunteer or providing support to over 200 Samaritans branches across the UK.

Over the last 70 years Samaritans listening volunteers have answered more than 134 million calls for help.

They come from all walks of life, and all have different reasons for volunteering.

“I am a listening volunteer here at the Luton branch. I became involved with Samaritans in 2019. I contracted sepsis and became very ill, very quickly. When I recovered from that, I was left with anxiety.

I saw a Samaritans sign at a rail station and I phoned Samaritans. I spoke to a woman for over an hour and the immediate relief I felt just from having someone just listen to what I was saying was incredible. It made such a difference to me. As I progressed along my journey, I thought this is something I can do - I can help people.”

Samaritans listening volunteer 

If you’d like to show your support and say thank you this Volunteers’ Week you can take a selfie with Samaritans’ selfie sign! Download yours here, print it off and send it to (insert email from organisation). We’ll share these with Samaritans as well as posting our favourites across our social media channels.

You can also post your photos of thanks on your own social media channels. Don’t forget to tag Samaritans and use #VolunteersWeek

Remember, Samaritans is there day or night, for anyone who’s struggling to cope, who needs someone to listen without judgement or pressure. If you’re struggling, you can contact Samaritans any time of the day or night by phoning 116 123 or emailing jo@Samaritans.org

Do you have a Samaritans volunteer working at your organisation? If so, we’d love to hear their story to help highlight the incredible people behind our services.

You could tell their story as a blog, case study or even as a video, and we’ve included some prompt questions below to help. You can then send your stories to your Samaritans’ Account Manager. We’ll share these internally as well as possibly sharing a few quotes on our LinkedIn page – with permission.

Prompt questions:

• Volunteer’s name
• Branch they volunteer at
• How they volunteer (e.g., listening/ support/ etc.)
• How long they’ve been a Samaritans volunteer
• Why they became a Samaritans volunteer