Charity geared up to spread the word

Last Friday marked Samaritans Awareness Day, also known as The Big Listen.

Samaritans also honoured the date nationwide as one of the most important in the lifeline charity’s calendar, which it uses to spread awareness of its round- the- clock emotional support services and to encourage people to get in touch if they need someone to listen.

Normally, mid-July sees volunteers at the Lanarkshire branch, based in Hamilton’s Selkirk Place, taking their Talk To Us campaign out into the community to highlight their work and recruit sought-after new volunteers.

The pandemic has forced recruitment, training and fundraising to take a back seat. And now, in these challenging times, listening to others has never been more important.

Lanarkshire Samaritans is continuing to provide support to anyone who needs it, day or night.

Since lockdown in March, Samaritans volunteers have found that one in three callers talks about coronavirus, with many people feeling more anxious and distressed than before the pandemic struck.

Volunteer surveys which gathered more than 3000 responses also found the most common concerns related to coronavirus are around loneliness, isolation, mental health, family, finances and unemployment.

Lanarkshire branch director Willie Kerr said: “Our callers had to cope with lockdown, now they are facing coming out of lockdown.

“These changes added to any existing issues can have a devastating effect on any vulnerable person. Samaritans is a vital contact to many people at this time.”

 Someone contacts Samaritans every six seconds.

 £5 covers the cost of a call for help from someone struggling to cope.

 Samaritans helpline is run entirely by volunteers – it costs around £200 to recruit and train a new volunteer so they can provide life-saving, emotional support.

For information on how to get involved visit www.samaritans.org/ support-us/campaign/talk-us/ or join the conversation on social media using #TalkToUs.

Supportive Director Willie Kerr