Samaritans Ireland launch Impact Report

Samaritans Ireland launched their Impact Report 2012/2013 last month and I was delighted to attend the launch.

Photo shows Drogheda volunteers Brianne McHugh, David Hepburn, Ruth Gallagher with Senator Mary Moran

The Samaritans have been in operation for 60 years and their work had been expanding year on year to provide that vital service which people in distress need.

People can talk to the Samaritans any time they like, in their own way, about whatever’s getting to them. They don’t have to be suicidal to get in touch. The volunteers are ordinary people who keep conversations private. People can be themselves, whoever they are, however they feel, whatever life’s done to them.

Their vision is that fewer people die by suicide and they work to achieve this by making it their mission to alleviate emotional distress and reduce the incidence of suicidal feelings and suicidal behaviour. They do this by being available 24 hours a day to provide emotional support for people who are experiencing feelings of emotional distress or despair, including those which may lead to suicide: by reaching out to high-risk groups and communities to reduce the risk of suicide: by working with other organisations, agencies and experts to achieve their vision and by influencing public policy and raising awareness of the challenges of reducing suicide. There are 2,000 volunteers available at the end of the phone 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Recognising that the cost of phoning can be an issue the Samaritans have recently signed an agreement with Ireland’s main telecom providers (BT Ireland; eircom/Meteor; O2 ; Three; UPC; and Vodafone), to put in place a free-to-caller number for people needing someone to turn to. The number, 116 123 has been piloted since June in Dublin 8 and 12, and more recently in Waterford, Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary. The excellent, long-term news is that early in 2014, they are hoping to make this number free-to-callers right across the country. Meanwhile, it costs callers just six cent to phone Samaritans from an Irish landline or 33 cent from a mobile phone, irrespective of how long the call lasts.

Samaritans volunteers in Ireland gave 56,827 hours or 3.4 million minutes in listening time on the organisation’s helpline on the 12-month period from November 2012 – to October 2013. On average calls are four per cent longer than last year, at 14 minutes. The duration of night time calls have increased by over six per cent to 16 minutes. These are averages – calls can go on significantly longer. On average last year, there were six people taking to Samaritans at any time, round the clock, every single day. A Samaritan volunteer listens to a new call every two minutes and the majority of Samaritans listening occurs from 6pm to 6am.

If you need to get in touch with the Samaritans please call 1850 60 90 90

You can download the Impact Report on www.samaritans.org