Volunteers quit Samaritans over caller disclosure rules

BRITAIN’S most prominent suicide charity has been hit by an exodus of volunteers amid a row over sweeping changes made in recent years, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Dozens have resigned in protest at rules requiring the details of vulnerable or under age callers to be passed to the police and the NHS. Others have been effectively sacked after refusing to sign up to the regime, it is understood.

A number of former senior staff, including directors, told The Telegraph there was also widespread disquiet at moves to wrest control away from local branches.

Last night a source at Samaritans insisted that the changes had been necessary, and said the vast majority of the 20,000 volunteers were happy with the decisions. “Everything we do is focused on reducing the number of people committing suicide”, they added. However, Duncan Irvine, a former spokesman for the charity, suggested it had been overtaken by a “safe, corporate culture”.

The change to the charity’s long established promise “to keep what you say between us” was announced in 2017. Callers are now warned that their details may be passed to emergency services or social workers if they are under 13 or “at significant risk”.

The website now explains that “most of the time whatever you tell us will stay between us”.

A Samaritans spokesman said the number of volunteers resigning from the charity had remained relatively stable throughout the changes. He said the confidentiality rules had been introduced to ensure “best practice” when dealing with vulnerable callers, and that only a tiny proportion had been referred to the authorities.