Thank you for your interest in volunteering with Samaritans.
Samaritans respond to people who need us in lots of ways. We have developed an email hub where a team of volunteers specialise in providing our email service in the UK with the flexibility of being able to volunteer from home.
You could be part of this exciting new way of delivering our email service from home.
- You’ll be part of a specialised team who support each other virtually so you are never on your own.
- You’ll receive excellent training and the equipment to carry out your role.
- You’ll have the flexibility of not having to travel to volunteer.
If you would prefer to volunteer from home and enjoy communicating in writing rather than on the phone, this opportunity could be just for you.
What would the role involve?
Our listening volunteers are there for anyone who needs someone. You would be responding to our callers via email, who prefer to write down their thoughts and feelings and you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you’re helping the people who prefer to contact us this way.
You’ll be provided with a Chromebook to carry out your volunteering shifts and although the role is remote you will do your shifts as part of a team who communicate via video calls throughout the shift.
Do I need specific skills?
Our training will provide you with the skills you need for the role, but we do ask that you are non-judgemental and accepting of others. It doesn’t necessarily matter if you’ve gone through difficult times yourself, what matters is that you want to help people – all kinds of people, from all walks of life.
We're looking for people who are:
Open minded
You’re willing to understand someone else’s point of view, even if it’s different from yours.
Supportive
You’ll help maintain a friendly and supportive atmosphere.
Empathetic
You’re comfortable with your own feelings and able to share another person’s feelings.
Discreet
You’ll be careful with any information you're told, and never share it outside Samaritans
Accepting
You won’t discriminate against anyone for any reason, including gender, race, sexuality, disability or political views.
Honest
You’re able to tell the truth even when it’s difficult – for example about the type of support we can offer people, even when they want more.
Other things to consider:
- This role is home based so you must be comfortable to volunteer from home and happy to be supported through virtual communication tools.
- The space where you will volunteer should be quiet and free of distractions. There should be no risk of other people viewing confidential material or overhearing confidential conversations.
- The role will involve using different online systems to access emails, log information and virtually communicate with other volunteers so you need to have the confidence to use IT systems independently, on a provided Chromebook, using your home broadband. We recommend your broadband connection is at least 8MB download and 2MB upload. You can check your broadband speed on this website (please right-click to open the link in a new window).
- Our email service is only provided in the English language so you must have the ability to write in English.
What’s the expectation of volunteer shifts?
Samaritans is proud to offer its services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We rely on our volunteers to offer their time to ensure we can achieve this and for everyone to ‘do their bit’ so that we can be there for people when they need us.
There will be the flexibility for you to choose from a variety of shift times. During the first three months, following training, we would like you to do a minimum of 3 shifts a month and then a minimum of 2 shifts a month after that. If you can volunteer every week that would be even better. There will also be the opportunity to get involved in other roles.
How do I apply?
If you are interested in joining this new initiative, there are a few next steps to let us know you would like to be considered.
The next step will be to have an interview which is an important part of both you and us deciding whether Samaritans is right for you. After you have sent your completed form, we’ll be in touch with dates for you to book your interview.
Following the interview, if it is decided the role is right for you, we’ll do some checks including obtaining references and a criminal record check and we’ll send you further details.
You’ll also need to attend our training which is delivered on Zoom in groups. You’ll be part of a team and fully supported throughout.
It’s important that you are willing to attend an interview and all Samaritans training.
If you’d like to be part of the Email Hub let us know by following the link in the email we sent to you. This will take you to the online form. We will be in touch after you have submitted the form.
If you’ve decided this isn’t for you that’s fine, you don’t need to do anything else.