ABOUT US AND OUR BRANCH
Samaritans is a registered charity based in the UK and the Republic of Ireland that provides confidential, emotional support to any person who is suicidal or despairing.
Samaritans has been offering emotional support to those in distress for over
50 years. Despite the increase in the number of help lines across the UK, Samaritans volunteers are among the very few who are still available
24 hours a day, 365 days
a year.
Samaritans have a vision for a society where
• Fewer people die by suicide
• People are able to explore their feelings
• People are able to acknowledge and respect the
feelings of others
Leatherhead Branch
At our Centre in Leatherhead we have in the region of 115 volunteers working as a team to provide round-the-clock support to those who need to talk to someone. We do so in the hope that we can alleviate some of the feelings of distress and despair which many of our callers experience. We believe in the value of being able to express these feelings to someone who will listen and accept what is being said, in total confidence and without fear of judgement.
Our Prison Team provides support for female prisoners at HM Prison Downview, by training volunteer prisoners in Samaritans skills and principles so that they can in turn be ‘Listeners’ to fellow prisoners. Emotional support is provided by Samaritans themselves to the juvenile women and there are also free, confidential telephone lines so that the women can call Samaritans direct.
Samaritans offers emotional support to anyone in any sort of distress, not just those who are considering taking their life. We may be contacted by phone, email, letter or by personal visit.
Leatherhead & Mid Surrey Samaritans is one of more than 200 branches in the UK and Ireland.
We are constituted as an independent registered charity, registration number 239388.
2005 was a year of celebration for Leatherhead and Mid Surrey branch, being 40 years since we were founded. After all these years we are still proud to be
very much part of our local community
During 2005 we answered nearly 25,000 telephone calls, welcomed more than 160 visitors and replied to more than 500 emails.
It remains a challenge to maintain sufficient volunteer numbers to man the phone lines and keep our Centre open to callers. Every year we hold Spring and Autumn Information Evenings in Leatherhead, Epsom and Dorking followed by two training programmes for people who want to go on to become a Samaritan volunteer.
We continue to develop the role of the Support Volunteer – Branch members who do not interact with callers, but help with other tasks like fundraising, IT and DIY support.
If you think you would like to join us as a listening volunteer or support Samaritan, please click on the 'Volunteering' button above for more information.