Our Work in Prisons

The Prison Listeners' Scheme

In 1979, the Samaritans of Boston, Massachusetts were becoming increasingly alarmed by the ever growing number of suicides occuring at the city's Charles Street jail. They eventually hit upon the revolutionary idea of training selected inmates to become effectively "Samaritans in residence". It was successful, and what was to become the Listeners' Scheme was born.

In 1991, the first team of Listeners was introduced in the UK, at HMP Swansea. Today there are Listeners operating in 150+ establishments spread throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland.

What is the Listeners Scheme?

Within participating prisons, the local Samaritans branch train and support a number of prisoners to become Listeners. We currently have 2 prisons that fall within the remit of the Derby branch: Foston and Sudbury.

How do the Listeners operate?

Listeners are selected and trained by a team of local Samaritans. The training for Listeners is very similar to that given to all Samaritan volunteers, with, of course, extra focus on the parts of a Listener's role that will be very different due to circumstances that they work in.

The listeners usually work to a rota, as Samaritans do, and are available for inmates to speak to face-to-face at any time of day or night.

The Prisons Team

Within the branch, the job of training and supporting the Listeners is undertaken by the Prisons Team, just one of a number of extra roles within the branch that volunteers can get involved in if they wish.

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