Autumn 2023 newsletter

Chris started volunteering at our Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow branch six years ago. Recently, he decided he'd like to help make sure Samaritans' services keep going long into the future.

“I honestly can’t express just how much I get out of being a Samaritans volunteer. I do a shift a week, alongside working full-time. Even when it’s tough, you always leave thinking ‘I’ve done something important’. Listening to someone is a gift. Their problems might not have gone away, but often they feel lighter. It gives people the space to get things out of their system, emotionally. It’s a privilege to be able to give callers the opportunity to express themselves, without judgement. I’ve even decided to leave Samaritans a gift in my Will, when I was thinking about where my money could really make a difference. As a volunteer myself, I recognise how vital the service is to thousands of callers. It saves lives and helps those who are distressed, unhappy and isolated. I felt I had an opportunity to keep this going in some small way. To run a helpline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year is unavoidably expensive. I’m so grateful for the chance to support those who really need it, by being a volunteer. Now I know that the gift in my Will could help keep the service going for people who need it in the future.”

If you’d like more information about leaving a gift in your Will to help keep Samaritans here for anyone struggling to cope, please contact our friendly team at [email protected] or call 03709 00 00 32.

Launched in 2017, Our Small Talk Saves Lives campaign is delivered in partnership with Network Rail, British Transport Police and the wider rail industry. It encourages people to trust their instincts and start a simple conversation if they think someone might need help.

The latest phase got underway this February with our pop-up ‘No Filter Café’ at Manchester Piccadilly station. Staffed by Samaritans volunteers, the cafe invited people to practise their small talk in exchange for a hot drink and was promoted by TV presenter and Samaritans ambassador, Gail Porter, and Coronation Street’s Channique Sterling-Brown. Channique, who’s been a Samaritans listening volunteer herself for four years now, also spoke of putting her skills into practice outside volunteering recently, when she noticed someone that she thought needed help on her drive home from a Samaritans shift.

“I could see him in my rear-view mirror, and I just knew I had to double back and check if he was OK. Especially as I’d just finished a Samaritans shift – I thought ‘this is why we do it’. I got out the car and simply said ‘hey, are you OK?’. He said he was fine, but I asked again and said I wanted to check as it was super cold and dark, but he reassured me he was fine and thanked me for asking. Even though it was no more than that, I’m so glad I made that decision and trusted my gut, because maybe it did interrupt a thought process and showed him that a random person cares. This campaign is so powerful as it’s about a basic understanding that, as human beings, a bit of compassion and connection can go so far, and you don’t need training for that. It’s about showing others that they’re not alone.”

Coupled with a new film that myth-busts some of the barriers to approaching someone who looks like they need help, the campaign achieved wide-ranging and in-depth coverage, reaching millions across print, TV, radio and online media. In an endorsement of the campaign, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak retweeted photos from the event, and a raft of politicians were also in attendance across the country. These included the Minister for Mental Health, Maria Caulfield MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Haigh MP, Metro Mayor for Liverpool, Steve Rotheram, Liz Twist MP, and Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham. In addition, over 80 Samaritans branches also took part in station and community events to get the word out in their local communities. All in all, the campaign had a high impact on people’s likelihood to approach and speak to someone who appears distressed at a railway station, with 69% of people who saw the campaign saying they’d feel confident in doing so, compared with 53% of people who hadn’t seen the campaign.

The campaign has had a measurable improvement on people’s confidence in approaching and knowing what to say to someone who’s upset or in distress at a railway station. It’s one of the many ways your support allows us to run lifesaving initiatives in addition to our helpline.

Sometimes writing things down and taking some time to reflect on and compose your thoughts can be very therapeutic and help you understand them better. It’s just one of the reasons why the email service you enable us to provide is so essential, just like it was for Fran.

It was in the small hours of the morning that Fran decided to reach out to Samaritans. For years she had been caring for her husband, John, as he battled with dementia. Fran felt hopeless. She just wanted to scream into the darkness. That night, she discovered solace in Samaritans’ email service.

“My husband, John, had dementia for six years. People think dementia is just forgetting. It’s not - it’s a huge illness. But it’s worse than that. It’s crushing, destructive, and the loneliest place in the entire world. You’re so desperate and defeated, and in those dark, empty moments, you think: ‘That’s it, I just want this to stop, and I want it to stop for both of us!’ As things got increasingly worse, you think: ‘I’m completely alone here’. The impact on you, the impact on your family. The impact on your own health – because you’re just so incredibly tired. And you know where this is going. There are no miracles coming. It’s the most dangerous moment in your life. I was so alone. I had to speak to somebody. I couldn’t verbalise how I really felt in the marrow of my bones… but I could write! So I emailed. I’m better at words than talking. I just poured the whole thing out. I even said in my email that I didn’t want answers. There were no answers for the situation I was in. I accepted that. I just wanted the stress out of me. The next day, I got an email back. So many times, in the empty hours of the night while the world slept, I emailed Samaritans to describe the endless torture of watching the man I loved die before my eyes. I got the pain out. It carried me through the endless darkness that my life had become. Samaritans is just absolutely brilliant. It really was a lifesaver. We all have secret corners of our hearts that belong to us, and knowing I’d never meet or see the person I was speaking to allowed me to say these things. It was great to get everything out there. It’s amazing. John died seven months ago, and I miss him. But I can negotiate this new world, and I know that Samaritans is there, never judging, never giving me platitudes, just listening. And sometimes that’s all I need – just to scream out in the darkness of desperation and know that it’s OK to do that. I have two daughters who are also grieving. Lots of people focus on the widow and say ‘your husband of 54 years…’, but for my children, he’s been there all their lives. Loss weighs differently. It stops me thinking entirely of myself. I’m doing OK now. I have strategies. I come from a generation where you do just get up and get on. When someone has dementia you’re facing the loss continually, until that very last loss. It’s a long journey. So, thank you to all the listening volunteers out there. I will never know who you are, but you saved my life.”

Samaritans replied to more than 200,000 calls for help by email last year. If you have something on your mind and would feel more comfortable expressing it in writing, email [email protected].

Samaritans has been providing award-winning services in prisons, across the UK and Ireland, for over 30 years. As we work to reduce suicide and self-harm in prisons, our services are available and accessible in a range of ways. These include:

Listener schemes

Where our volunteers specially select and train people in prison to provide confidential emotional support to their peers who are struggling to cope.

Telephone support

Requiring most prisons to offer people and staff in prison access to the Samaritans helpline, free of charge.

Correspondence branch

A confidential freepost service so that, if they prefer, people in prison can write to us instead, with no need to buy a stamp, using freepost envelopes available in communal areas of the prison.

Face to face support

For prisons that don’t have a Listener Scheme, our volunteers from the local branch may still visit the prison to offer face-to-face support for those struggling to cope in prison.

Support for prison staff Particularly following a suicide in custody.

However, lockdown meant many Listener Schemes were suspended, at a time when people in prison really needed our help. So, last year, we worked with volunteers and prisons across the UK and Ireland to rebuild and restart this vital service.

Postvention As part of this, we worked across the prison service in England and Wales to introduce a new way to respond to suicide, called Postvention. It has now been implemented in most prisons in England and Wales and supports people and staff, in prisons, following a suicide. Since the beginning of April 2023, Postvention has supported 311 people in prison, with 91 people talking to Listeners about how a suicide within their prison has affected them, and 10 people disclosing suicidal thoughts to prison Listeners. Historically, staff in prison have found it difficult to seek support for their own wellbeing and mental health. However, since the start of our Postvention work in April, Samaritans has been able to slowly erode some of these barriers, supporting many staff who responded to suicides within their establishments. We're also encouraging people in prisons to become better listeners, using Samaritans’ SHUSH listening tips. And we're encouraging people to open up about how they feel, demonstrating that it's OK not to be OK, and to talk about suicide.

With men in prison over three times more likely to take their own lives than the rest of the population, the Postvention response provides quick and effective support to everyone following a death. No matter who you are, Samaritans’ support is always available.

Suicide prevention funding that local communities in England rely on is ending. But at the same time, the Government have published a bold new national strategy to save lives from being lost to suicide. This just doesn’t add up.

That’s why our Saving Lives Can’t Wait campaign is calling on the Government to save this funding and take the ambitious action needed to bring suicide rates down to the lowest ever recorded. And the good news is, we’ve been gaining support right in the heart of Westminster. Alongside Samaritans staff and volunteers going to parliament to speak directly to MPs, constituents of the three main Government ministers who could save the funding – Jeremy Hunt, Steve Barclay and Michael Gove – have also written to them directly and taken action locally. And almost 20,000 of our amazing supporters like yourself have signed our petition calling for action. The results have been promising. MPs from across the political parties have spoken out about the need to save this funding, with Conservative MP, Wendy Morton, and Labour MP, Sharon Hodgson, also raising the issue in parliament. Meanwhile, Jason McCarthy MP wrote to other members of the Conservative Party, insisting that “The National Suicide Prevention Strategy […] must have funding that matches the scale of the problem – a problem I hope we’re all agreed needs addressing urgently.” This is reassuring to see, but we’ll keep building on this pressure to reach a proper commitment from the Government to save this local funding.

You can help make this happen! Read more information and to see what actions you can take now.

Get together for a Walk to Remember and share memories of your loved one’s life.

Choose a date, distance, and a place that feels special. Raise funds to help Samaritans support people who are struggling to cope.

Sign up and get free resources here.

Josh first contacted Samaritans in 2018, when he was in crisis with his mental health. The safe space that you provided him with, to truly share his emotions, helped him emerge from a very dark time. Since then, Josh has gone on to complete the Great North Run, raising funds for Samaritans along the way so that we can be there for others too.

“I had got myself in a tangle with my mental health. Addictions, anxiety and depression culminated in me experiencing psychosis and mental illness for the first time. I had delusions, hallucinations and heard voices. I can recall thinking that it could harm my future job prospects. I was reluctant to take medication and I still had little insight into my illness.

After spending a night in A&E, I was then placed under the care of mental health in the community. It was then for the first time I experienced severe depression; on reflection I’ve probably suffered with bouts of low mood in my teens and early twenties, but this was something different altogether. It left me unable to function, rendering simple tasks like getting dressed, eating, and drinking near impossible. I took medication and received cognitive behavioural therapy from a psychologist, helping me to cope in the moment. I also attended regular group meetings with other people experiencing psychosis. This helped me gain a greater understanding of my own challenges and gradually I started to get better. This is also when I first contacted Samaritans. I was reassured by a kind volunteer that Samaritans are here to listen without judging. The mental health team I was under were open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Samaritans were there 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They provided a safe place and listened to whatever was disturbing me at that time. I had to call Samaritans many times and know I’m in a better place with my mental health now because of their help and patience. It’s amazing the effect of saying what was truly going on with me in a safe space had. I was so relieved and felt much better afterwards. I got just what I needed in that moment – a chance to offload and let out my emotions to somebody who was there to listen to me. I’ve undoubtedly been helped through this difficult period by some loving family and friends, as well as various mental health professionals. However, Samaritans has also been vital to me at times of need. Whether it’s that I'm struggling to cope, feeling low, or anxiety is just getting the better of me, I know that Samaritans are just a phone call away any time of day. I’m grateful to know that Samaritans always have my back and, whilst my family and friends are there for me too, I find it comforting to know Samaritans are always there. There are lots of great avenues for help out there, and Samaritans is one of them.”

If you’d like to help us answer even more calls for help from people like Josh, please donate today.

If you weren’t already aware, we’re delighted (and incredibly proud) to say that Samaritans has been chosen as the 2024 TCS London Marathon Charity of the Year!

It’s an incredible opportunity, and the perfect platform to help break the stigma around suicide and mental health by encouraging people to believe in tomorrow. As our CEO, Julie Bentley says, an event that’s synonymous with overcoming adversity is the ideal fit for Samaritans:

“The TCS London Marathon is almost a metaphor for life, a journey of highs, with important milestones along the way, but also moments of struggle when a bit of help is needed. So, after 70 years of supporting people with their own challenges, Samaritans is delighted to be chosen as the 2024 TCS London Marathon Charity of the Year, for the world’s most iconic marathon. Samaritans services are always busy, and every step taken and pound raised will help us be there for more people, from all backgrounds and walks of life, who are struggling to cope.”

Walk, jog or run your own marathon with places on the starting line swiftly snapped up, and not everyone able to make it to London, we also have places available in an inclusive event that everyone can enjoy: the 2024 TCS London Marathon MyWay. It’s your chance to complete 26.2 miles as part of #TeamSamaritans however and wherever you wish on Marathon Day, Sunday 21 April. You can walk, jog or run, do it in stages over 24 hours, with friends or on you own, and your route is up to you. It’s your marathon, your way! You can register for just £5 and we ask that you raise a minimum of £250. You will, of course, receive lots of support, tips and encouragement along the way and be part of our MyWay community.

Find out more and sign up here.

Known affectionately to his friends as ‘Usingh Bolt’, when Barry Singh started running 15 years ago, he only ever intended to do one half marathon and one marathon. That plan swiftly changed as he caught the running bug, and a key motivation of his has been fundraising for good causes.

In 2020, during the pandemic, Barry took part in Samarathon and ran one marathon every Saturday in July to raise money for Samaritans. If that wasn’t enough, in July 2021 he decided to up the fundraising seven-fold and run a marathon every day! His appreciation for running, as an activity that allowed him the freedom and control to make time for himself, then led Barry to set up his own 5km running group, with a focus on mental health. Already something of a Samaritans legend, Barry has since trained to become a listening volunteer, at his local branch in Walsall.

“I'm not someone that has ever used the listening service, but I know people who have. I saw how they had helped people, so I wanted to do something.

I love running marathons to fundraise for them and eventually decided I wanted to train to become a listening volunteer, to try to help others that needed someone to listen to them. The service Samaritans provide is amazing – 24/7, every day of the year. I'm proud to run for them and to be a part of the volunteer team.”

The 2024 TCS London Marathon, where Barry’s running as part of #TeamSamaritans, will be his ninth London Marathon, but his first time running for a charity where he also volunteers.

If you’d like to follow in Barry’s tireless footsteps, why not enter the 2024 TCS London Marathon MyWay? It’s your marathon, your way, you can find out more here.

An Eternal Star Fund is an online page and central place for remembering a loved one. It's simple and only takes a few minutes to create your online page. When you've created your Eternal Star Fund, you can light virtual candles and add stories, poetry, photos, and music to share special memories.

You can also start fundraising on your page and encourage family and friends to support you every step of the way. You can create your fund here. For more information about Samaritans’ Eternal Star Funds, please contact our friendly team at [email protected] or call 03709 00 00 32.