'Allowing callers to have a conversation is so important’ - Derry Samaritans seek new volunteers

The Derry branch of Samaritans is currently recruiting new volunteers.

The organisation is a registered charity which aims to provide emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope or at risk of suicide throughout Ireland and Britian. 

Samaritans has an online application process and anyone who is interested can sign up at: www.samaritans.org. 

In addition, Rosemary, Branch Director, said an in-person volunteer information evening was being held in the group’s Derry headquarters at 16, Clarendon Street, on Tuesday, March 14.

Rosemary said: “Being a Samaritan volunteer is about listening to people, in terms of what they are going through, and letting them talk about it. 

“If they feel they need to change things or do things differently, it is about going through the process of how they are going to achieve that and how they feel about what is happening? 

“So, it is a different conversation than just giving somebody another bit of advice, which they are probably getting from friends and family and, maybe, not feeling in a place where they can follow it,” said Rosemary.

“Samaritans can also be out and about,” she added. “When we get enough volunteers, we hope to be able to do that again. 

Rosemary added: “During next week’s volunteer information evening, we will explain to anyone who comes along exactly what Samaritans do, the process for recruiting them and the amount of training they will go through and what change we think it will make to them individually.

“We will also tell them about the support they will be able to give to people who do need it. It is not just skills they will learn for being Samaritans, it is skills for their lives as well. 

“Learning to listen to people without giving them directions about what they should do is really important for all of us, I think,” said Rosemary.

Samaritan volunteers undergo core development training first, which runs for eight weeks. 

This is where volunteers learn how to listen and how people react to certain things and the conversations they might have.

“It is really about encouraging people to volunteer because, like every other organisation, we have lost volunteers over the last couple of years with the pandemic. 

“It is important that people are back volunteering again and we think Samaritans is a great place for people to do that. 

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