Colchester’s support network : The Samaritans
Did you know that young people are less likely to ask for help over the phone compared to other age groups ?
To help young people (and also older people) feel more able to seek support, the Samaritans have launched an online chat system to encourage people to reach out.
The first Samaritan’s call was made on November 2nd 1953 and from that moment over 134 million calls have taken place with the Samaritans.
After many years of calls in 2002, the Samaritan’s began offering support through email.
In just the first year alone over 72,000 emails were received.
The Samaritan’s have over 200 branches in the UK and are open 24/7 to offer support for not only the moment of crisis but also taking action to prevent the crisis.
A Samaritan volunteer who I interviewed said that they are ‘not going to judge you’ as well as allowing ‘you to take the call wherever you want to take it’.
The Samaritans are there to listen. The service allows anyone to reach out for ‘emotional support without judgement’.
Every 10 seconds a Samaritan responds to a call to help someone, demonstrating the importance of this charity.
It has become evident in recent years that phone calls amongst young people are becoming less common.
In hope of helping young people reach out more, an online chat service is in the process of piloted.
Currently it is only in its early stages but people are able to use a chat service which acts in a similar way to how WhatsApp is formatted.
This means that it is easy to use and the Samaritans are hopeful that this system is ‘hopefully more accessible and familiar to young people’.
Presently, this system is not open 24/7 but the Samaritans are working hard to make this service run all of the time as soon as possible.
A Samaritans volunteer told me that ‘Anyone has the potential to become a Samaritan’.
So if you are able to give your time and support others as well as also learning about different coping mechanisms that you can take into your every day life, be sure to sign up today by visiting their website !
