Phil Gillam: Good Samaritans do so much more than you realise

Surely they were there to talk to people who were having thoughts about suicide.

Well, chatting to Richard Dunnill of the Samaritans of Shrewsbury, I very quickly discovered that this incredible charity has a much wider brief than that – indeed a brief wide enough to cover pretty much all human experience - and that brief is to provide emotional support to people in need.

So yes, of course they talk to people thinking about suicide. But Samaritans volunteers (they are all volunteers, by the way) are also contacted by people distressed, depressed or despairing about relationship or family problems, people dealing with bereavement following the loss of a friend or family member, people with financial worries, those with job-related stress, students worried about college or their studies, lonely people, isolated people, those with a painful or disabling physical illness and to those who maybe have a heavy use of (or dependency on) alcohol or other drugs.

Richard and I are chatting in a brightly-lit room (its blue-tiled floor wouldn’t be out of place in a dentist’s waiting room). Sipping tea and nibbling biscuits at a large table, I’m told this is where training and meetings are held, but he later shows me a much more homely room that’s available for quiet, confidential conversations.

First up, I was interested to learn a little bit about Richard himself.

He told me: “I’m Shrewsbury born and bred, married to a South Walian – Pam, and we both worked all over the country for many years.”

Then, with work bringing them to Birmingham in 2007 "we came back here to Shrewsbury and fell in love again with the old home town and county.”

So let’s talk about the Samaritans right here in Shrewsbury. How does the organisation fit into the town, and what is the organisational structure?

"As well as by supporting people who phone, email, text or visit us for support, one of the things we Samaritans have done in Shrewsbury is to make sure we are part of the community. …to be part of the community conversation... working alongside great local charities and services to support more people”.

Okay. And the 69 volunteers at Shrewsbury Samaritans? What’s their commitment exactly?

Independent

"We agree to each doing seven shifts over two months. Those include one full overnight and one shorter overnight shift."

Samaritans has 201 branches across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Locally, sister branches are to the east, Telford; to the west, Aberystwyth; to the north, Chester; to the south, Hereford.

"Each branch is self-funding. Samaritans of Shrewsbury is an independent, self-funding charity affiliated to the central charity which provides things like legal and training support, health and safety, IT... and that’s all based in Surrey.

"But every branch has to sustain itself. We don’t ask for or take government, council or NHS money. We strive to raise all our own funding and remain independent.

"Although it’s hard raising all our own money, being independent means we can talk to the government, council or NHS without prejudice. It keeps us honest.”

Samaritans use active listening to support people. To become a listening volunteer with Samaritans you go through around nine months training and then there is ongoing training during the year.

Volunteers come from every walk of life, from doctors to builders, from accountants to shopkeepers, from retired people to students.

““They bring their own life experience to Samaritans alongside the excellent training. We provide a listening ear and a helping hand.”

Fact file:

• Someone contacts Samaritans every six seconds.

• Someone suicidal contacts Samaritans every 30 seconds.

• Shrewsbury branch was contacted by more than 14,000 people in 2017/18.

• Shrewsbury branch attended 77 meetings and events across the county involving more than 12,000 people.

• People can contact Samaritans by freephone 116123, email jo@samaritans.org, text 07725909090 and face to face.

• Visit samaritans.org