Shush! If you really want to help, listen
YOU may have seen Samaritans volunteers out and about at railway stations across the North West recently.
As part of a month-long awareness raising campaign we’ve called Talk To Us, we’ve been offering rail travellers the chance to become better listeners.
The campaign included one day when hundreds of Samaritans volunteers from 30 different branches across the North took part in a mass awareness raising event at 40 train stations across the region.
Members of the Manchester branch spent the day at Victoria station. We listen. That’s what we’re here to do and sometimes it can be challenging.
But our message was you don’t have to be a Samaritan to get better at listening to family, friends and colleagues.
We’re a culture of people who love to give advice, love to give opinions and quite frankly love the sound of our own voices.
But we’re asking people to SHUSH! and listen better.
More than 60 years of Samaritans expertise has taught us that just listening can be the greatest gift you can give to somebody.
Every six seconds, someone in the UK and Ireland contacts Samaritans.
We believe that listening is crucial to helping people find their way through their problems, and we want to encourage people to seek help early, rather than when they reach a crisis.
So here are our SHUSH! Tips, which I hope you will also find useful.
Show you care: focus just on the other person, make eye contact, put away your phone. ●●Have patience: it may take time and several attempts before a person is ready to open up. ●●Use open questions – questions that need more than a yes/no answer, and follow up eg. “Tell me more.” ●●Say it back: to check you’ve understood, but don’t interrupt or offer a solution ●●Have courage: don’t be put off by a negative response and, most importantly, don’t be afraid to leave silence
Being listened to gives you a voice, and the courage to say what’s really on your mind.
Saying your problems out loud is therapeutic in itself and being listened to has the power to make you feel understood, and that you matter.
We can all be better listeners.
So many family, work, relationship and even mental health issues are made worse when a person feels they aren’t being listened to.
Samaritans is all about being here to listen, and anyone can ‘Talk To Us.’
Help is just a phone call away.
Our new free helpline number is 116 123.
Calls to this number do not appear on phone bills.
You can also contact us on 0161 236 8000 for emotional support (local call charges apply).
Nationally and locally Samaritans is dependent on help and donations to continue the work we do.
To help us in our vital fundraising efforts we have also set up a Just Giving page.
We value all donations, no matter how big or small. Every little helps and anyone who wants to give can now visit www.justgiving.com/samaritansmanchestersalford/.
Text Here24 and the amount you’d like to give using the number 70070 (for example Here24 £3).
To find out more about joining us as a volunteer or a Friend of Samaritans email manchester@ samaritans.org.
Follow us on Twitter @SamsManchester