Donating

We desperately need your money. Our service receives very little funding from government and statutory sources, this means that in order to continue to provide our service and ensure that we are there for every person that contacts us, we have to rely on donations, legacies, grants and our own fundraising efforts.

CAN YOU HELP US?

• It costs approximately £65 a day to run our branch. Do you feel that either you or your employer would be kind enough to sponsor us for a day via a single donation?
• It costs our branch £2.29 every time a volunteer responds to each of the 15,700 + contacts we receive annually. If you are able, then please support us today.
• £10 would help us listen to 4 more people that are despairing and emotionally distressed and give them a chance to explore their feelings in confidence.
• Our service requires a dedicated and committed band of well-trained volunteers to keep it going and we are constantly in need of new recruits. For our branch to be able to fulfil this we need at least 70 volunteers a week. £109 would help us to recruit and train one new volunteer for our branch.

Branch Building Repair Fund Our branch has been providing emotional support to the residents and workers of Lewisham, Southwark and Greenwich for the past 37 years, first in Lewisham way, and since the Eighties at 362 New Cross Road. Towards the end of 2005, we received the exciting news that Lewisham Council, which owns the building, had agreed a 30-year, rent free lease, giving us the security to plan for the future. The building is in urgent need of repair. The branch is currently inaccessible to wheelchair users and does not comply with fire safety regulations. The building is afflicted with dry and wet rot, has no central heating and does not have a room large enough to run branch and training events in-house. We therefore have the challenge of raising £400,000 to repair, renovate and improve access to our building. There has been an encouraging response to an appeal to past volunteers, friends and relations, and to several events organised by individual volunteers. There have been sponsored events, street collections, quiz nights, concerts, carol singing, long distance walks, marathons, half marathons and even a triathlon. We are delighted at the response so far, but we have a long long way to go. We are currently in the process of applying for a grants and funding, and hope that with the kindness of others, we will be able to continue to provide emotional support to the local community for the next 30 years and beyond. We are eager to start work as soon as we can, to provide a safe place for our volunteers to work, where we can provide an accessible place for those people experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which may lead to Suicide, to be listened to in a comfortable and safe environment, in confidence without prejudice. Please help if you can, £5.00 will help us to support future callers, £25.00 sponsors a brick for the new extension, £200.00 from 10 people would provide a disabled toilet, we really do need your help. Our thermometer indicates the amount that has been raised so far, last updated June 2006, you can follow our progress by revisiting this page periodically. If you have any ideas that would help us to achieve our target and would like to fundraise for us then please email our Coordinator today. Thank you.

Above a photograph of our first Centre at Lewisham Way, and to the right a photograph of our current Centre at 362 New Cross Road.

Make a secure online donation today. Lewisham Greenwich and Southwark Samaritans have teamed up with Charity Choice in association with the Co-operative Bank to enable you to make an online donation to our branch. Donating online with Charity Choice is 100% safe and secure at all times, all major credit cards are accepted,. You can also 'Giftaid' your online donation and, like Samaritans, Charity Choice is available 24/7.

Donate by Cheque/Postal Order
You can download and print out a Postal Donation Form to accompany your cheque/postal order, which should be made payable to 'Lewisham Greenwich and Southwark Samaritans'. Please send your completed form and cheque/postal order to the address printed on the form, and please whatever you do don't send cash in the post.

Donate by Direct Debit Mandate
If you would rather donate on a more regular basis you can download and print out a Direct Debit Mandate form which should be completed and sent to the address printed on the form. Once your details have been recorded the form will be forwarded to your bank/building society for processing.

Leaving a legacy
Do you have the best will in the world?

Only 3 out of 10 people in the UK make a Will. Considering how important it is to take care of your loved ones, and how vital your gifts can be to charities, it's surprising more people don't do it. With the right guidance and support, you'll find that making your Will is much easier and much less expensive than you think.

In the time it takes to write a simple Will, over 500 people in crisis will have called Samaritans.

In as little as one hour you can protect your loved ones, care for your children and prevent legal problems after your death.

1 - Protect your loved ones

Making a Will is the only way to ensure your family is looked after as you could wish. If you haven't made a Will, the law decides who gets what. A Will, even a simple one, means that you have a say in what happens after you die.

2 - Prevent legal problems

If you don't have a Will, or if your Will is out of date, it could be very costly and traumatic for your loved ones to sort out.

3 - Care for your children

If you have very young children, making a Will enables you to decide who should look after them should the worst happen.

4 - Remember your favourite causes

Once you have taken care of those close to you, you may also like to remember organisations whose work you admire. Ensure you have the correct details of the organisations you wish to help, including the Charity Registration number.

5 - It's not expensive

Many Solicitors charge a flat fee for making a straightforward Will, and it is probably less expensive than you think.

6 - It's easy!

In most cases, making a Will is simple, although you might find it helpful to list your assets before visiting a solicitor.

Click on this link to download our FREE pdf guide to making and updating your Will which includes details of how you could leave a legacy to Samaritans that would enable us to continue to offer our vital service to the community.

Note that in order to read any of the above forms you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader which is available free from the Adobe website using this link.

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