Samaritans in Schools 2008

This report seeks to give an overview of Samaritans work in schools. It presents current work by
local branches so that successes can be shared and built upon. It also evaluates the uptake of
the DEAL programme and makes recommendations for future development and improvement.
The report will also provide some comparisons between the service in 2008 and that in 2004 as
reported in Emotional Health Promotion and Young People, Samaritans branch Survey (2004).

Download Samaritans in Schools 2008

Summary of key points:

• 78% of Samaritans branches work in schools.
  
  
• The majority of schools work carried out by Samaritans targets the 14-16 yr old age group.
  
  
• Samaritans delivered 1810 sessions (assembly, group talks etc.) in schools reaching
  66,491 young people in the last year. If we assume branches who did not take part in
  the survey conducted a similar amount of work then Samaritans could be doing
  2770 sessions reaching up to 101,781 young people each year.
  
  
•  Schools work on the whole was seen as a medium priority by Samaritans branches, and
  availability of daytime volunteers was reported as the most significant challenge.
  
  
• Over 900 organisations have requested a copy of DEAL since the launch in 2006. 88%
  of these had gone on to use DEAL or were intending to use it this year and 12% had not
  used it. The main reason for not using it was having no time or other priorities.
  
  
• The DEAL Body Language lesson is the second most popular download on
  Samaritans website after Samaritans annual report.
  
  
• 22% of organisations reported hearing of DEAL as a direct result of branch initiatives.
  
  
• 23% heard through external presence at conferences, training and consultation events.
  
  
• 15% heard by recommendation from another agency.
  
  
• The main professional group using DEAL are teachers followed by other educational
  professionals, health professionals and youth/community workers.
  
  
• 92% of responders rated DEAL as good or excellent.
  
  
• 61% professionals felt that receiving training would make them more confident in using DEAL.
  
  
• 86% of people who had used DEAL felt it helped young people to better look after their
  own emotional health. 83% felt DEAL helped young people ask for help when they needed it.
  
  
• 31% of respondents had had contact with their local Samaritans branch whilst 69% had
  not or were unsure.
  
  
• 67 schools have been supported by Samaritans branches in response to an attempted /
  completed suicide over the last three years.