No call for help goes unanswered

Thank you for your continuing your support for Central London Samaritans.

Every week, on average, 14 Londoners choose to end their own lives. Every day, with your support, we enable our highly trained volunteers to give a person in distress and despair the time to talk, the warmth and emotional support to explore their feelings, uncover solutions and perhaps……. discover a way forward to avert a personal tragedy and the devastating loss of a loved one, a friend or a colleague.

Over the summer of 2018, we have been raising awareness of our work in different ways - we have had sporting challenge called Cycle for Samaritans, held at Charing Cross Station where corporate companies had to cycle 2,470 miles (reflecting our 24/7 service) between 7am-7pm, where we raised almost £4,000. We've also held some Sing for Samaritans events with the help of London choirs (donating their time) raising around £300 each. 

As well as providing emotional support via our helpline services our volunteers continued to reach out and support vulnerable groups across London, including the homeless community, young people, men and women in custody and LGBT+ people reaching 504 people and raising awareness of our service to 121,550 people.

On 24^th July, we're hosting a 24-hour event called The Big Listen. We’re open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year round, for anyone who is struggling to cope. Last year we answered over 5 million calls. But we need your help to raise the vital funds we need to keep going. Give. Share. Save A Life. 

The Big Listen is all about raising awareness and funds to keep Samaritans running. Suicide is not inevitable, it’s preventable, and our volunteers are there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to support people that feel like they have nowhere to turn. We answer a call for help every six seconds - and you can help us be there to answer the next one. So far in the year to date, Samaritans has answered 1,670,267 calls of which 185,826 were unique callers.

It costs £5 for every call we take -  to recruit, train and supporting our volunteers, run the 201 branches where they’re based, and help promote our services so that we’re there to listen in confidence 24/7, for free. Central London Samaritans is raising awareness and bucket collecting at Kings Cross Station from 7am-7pm in the hope of getting more much needed funds towards the work we do. 

Our work at Central London Samaritans is ongoing, with your support we are able to continue to provide a 24 hour service by telephone, face to face visits, SMS and email every day of the year.

A donation of £7 donation today will enable Samaritans to respond to two calls for help.

£69 will support our phone lines for one hour during which Samaritans will help 15 people, 4 of whom will be experiencing suicidal thoughts.

£175 will help experienced volunteers to reach out to some of London's most vulnerable homeless people, the LGBT+ community, those breaved by suicide & people in custody.

Each year our 430 volunteers:

- donate over 95,000 hours to run our charity – that’s over 11 years…

- respond to over 100,000 calls for help via phone, SMS and email

- support 4,500 contacts face to face

- help over 2,000 of London’s most vulnerable people includingthe homeless, the LGBT+ community, those breaved by suicide & people in custody.

- raise awareness with up to 200,000 young people through our schools and university outreach

We are a charity. We rely entirely on donations from the public, businesses and other organisations. It costs around £450,000 a year to run our branch.

Getting a response from a real person and being given the time and space to talk things through helps people to find a way through their problems.

We help people to explore their options so they can make decisions that are right for them.

Samaritans is working with The Lord Mayor’s Appeal to launch a ground breaking emotional support programme for City workers today.

The Wellbeing in the City initiative, which is part of an existing mental health campaign in the Square Mile called This is Me, will focus on listening skills and signs that someone may be struggling. The aim is to help create a happier, healthier City.

Every year, around 600 people die by suicide across London and three out of every five employees have experienced mental health issues due to work, or where work was a contributing factor. Samaritans and The Lord Mayor’s Appeal are helping to tackle this by bringing expertise in emotional wellbeing to the City workforce, giving employees the skills and confidence to help themselves and others, creating a network of support.

Two interactive online programmes have been created specifically for office workers: Samaritans Active Listening Skills and Samaritans Wellbeing Toolkit. One takes around 60 minutes to complete, the other approximately 30 and both can be accessed in short sections of around 10 minutes or less. The development of the programmes has been part-funded by PwC. The ongoing partnership with the Lord Mayor’s Appeal and its fundraising plans across the City over the next three years will enable access for all.

Ruth Sutherland, CEO of Samaritans said “We know that listening saves lives. Our aim is to help people who are struggling, before they reach crisis point. Giving the workforce wellbeing and listening skills creates a network of support, so no one feels they have to cope with difficult thoughts or feelings alone. We want organisations and individuals to sign up now. Even a small commitment can make a huge difference to yourself and those around you.”

Charles Bowman, Lord Mayor of the City of London, said “With workplace stress and anxiety a serious issue, we’re taking practical steps to build a more supportive City through our employees. This will benefit businesses, families and communities, as well as having a real impact on those who need help. It will not only change lives, it has the potential to save lives too.”

In the run up to today’s launch, the resources have been trialled by employees at PwC. Ben Higgin, a PwC partner who ran the pilot programme, said: “Talking about mental wellbeing isn’t always easy. We often care, but worry too much about what’s the right or wrong thing to say. This Samaritans programme is a great tool and provides specific examples of how to handle these conversations, giving you the confidence to approach someone you think might need help or to seek that help yourself.  A quick and easy way for businesses to support their people, it breaks down the stigma of mental wellbeing and makes it easier for people to show that they care and to be themselves at work. We’ll be rolling it out widely at PwC, where our people are looking forward to using it.”

The Wellbeing in the City partnership between Samaritans and The Lord Mayor’s Appeal also aims to attract more Samaritans volunteers. The charity will be piloting a new model of volunteering later this year that will help training fit more easily around City life.

The Lord Mayor’s Appeal will be raising money for Samaritans through a series of fundraising events, including City Giving Day and The Sherriff’s Ball. The Lord Mayor’s Appeal is also partnering with Place2Be, a leading UK children’s mental health charity and OnSide Youth Zones, which provides projects for young people across London. As a result, The Lord Mayor’s Appeal will be supporting people of all ages across the capital over the next three years, fitting with its strategy to create A Better City for All.

To find out more or to register for the Samaritans online programme visit www.samaritans.org/wellbeinginthecity

Links:

• https://app.donorfy.com/donate/YN165YSAL5/CentralLondonSamaritans