50 LISTENING YEARS - A History Of Derby Branch: The First Half Century (1961 - 2011)

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Should the reader discover any inaccuracies in what I have written, I humbly beg that he will not impute them to me, because, as the laws of history require, I have laboured honestly to transmit whatever I could ascertain from common report for the instruction of posterity.

Nobody asked me to write this. If anybody's to blame, it's Julian Garland. Julian was Director of the Derby and District Branch of Samaritans as it approached its fortieth anniversary. I had been a member since 1971 and, touchingly, he thought I'd be able to remember everything that had happened for three quarters of its history. And that's why he asked me to write an account of the first forty years. Julian's a very nice bloke - I could hardly say 'no', could I?

Having moved on another ten years, I thought to myself, '80% of it's done, I might as well bring things up to date'. The fortieth version was written several years before I became a full-time holidaymaker. Consequently, not enough time went into research. Hopefully, this revised and updated version will prove to be more comprehensive and even, perhaps, more accurate.

Having covered my back with an impressive combination of T V Bede and Julian, let's get on with it.

If you are inspired by what you have read to find out more about the work of Samaritans why not come to one of our information evenings. Forthcoming dates for our information evenings can be found on the Volunteering page.

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