Samaritans volunteer to be in the front line of helping people experiencing the stresses and strains of everyday life in the 21st Century. Our comprehensive and ongoing training for listening volunteers prepares our listening volunteers to be there for our callers.

Having successfully completed a Selection Day prospective volunteers begin with:

Samaritan Initial Training 1.
This is made up of 9 x 3 hour sessions with appropriate skills training
3 of our Initial Training 1 courses are scheduled each year in:
Feb/March     June/July     Oct/Nov

Having completed Initial Training 1 new volunteers undertake 8 Observation Duties for which they are paired with a Mentor.

Being a Probationary Samaritan
At this point Probationary Samaritans are undertaking 4 hour duties with an experienced Samaritan.
Samaritan Stage 2 Training continues through this time with group sessions providing the opportunity to discuss and reflect on experiences in the duty room, helping to improve skills.

Following successful completion of Stage 2 Training new volunteers have a final interview with the Branch Director before becoming fully fledged listening Samaritans.

Doreen
Deputy Director for Training