Birmingham

Welcome to Birmingham branch

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Birmingham branch history

From Brasshouse to Bow Street

This year, we’re proud to be celebrating 60 years of supporting Birmingham.

Our story begins on 1st October 1962 where our first volunteers had a presence in churches across the city before opening a branch in the Brasshouse building on Broad Street. It was an old, listed building originally built in the late 1800s as a brass foundry. Our longer serving volunteers have told us the building was full of character, with a duty room that was draughty and creaky, but centred around a gas fire.

By the 1980s we had around 200 volunteers operating in shifts from the branch: taking calls, carrying out face-to-face sessions, and raising awareness of our cause with letterbox leaflets. We even received a kind donation of a caravan to support our outreach work!

We’ve come a long way since then, strengthened by technology and security improvements to help us provide the best possible support to our callers.

But what’s always stayed the same is the huge sense of community surrounding Samaritans and everything we do; from always being there to listen to our callers and those in need, to supporting each other.

The Samaritan who took the last call in the Brasshouse building was put in a taxi and taken across the city where they took the first call in our new branch.

So now you can find us at 13 Bow Street, just behind the O2 Academy on Horse Fair. If you’re struggling and need to talk, we listen. Although we’re not offering support face-to-face at the moment, you can reach us by phone day or night by calling 116 123, or by email on [email protected].

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