Press Statement - Chad Varah
Samaritans
The Upper Mill, Kingston Road, Ewell, Surrey, KT17 2AF
Contact: Rebecca Seedhouse
Tel: +44 (0)20 8394 8300
Out of hours press contact: +44 (0)7931 544 566 or +44
(0)7943 809 162
Email: r.seedhouse@samaritans.org
It is with great sadness that we have learnt of the death of our
Founder, Dr Chad Varah, CH, CBE, MA Oxon., aged 95 on Thursday
8th November 2007. Dr Varah died peacefully
in his sleep earlier this evening.
“My father always spoke
of Samaritans Volunteers as the most incredible group of people –
unsung heroes, whose commitment and dedication is the lifeblood of
the Organisation” – said the late Michael Varah, Chad’s eldest
son and Trustee of Samaritans. “They are my father’s
legacy”.
Chad Varah with the original
Samaritans telephone
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quality version
Felicity Varah, Chad’s
eldest child, comments: “Thanks to my father, Samaritans has
been working for over 50 years, providing confidential, emotional
support for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or
despair, including those which may lead to suicide. His
relationship with Samaritans had many chapters, from the moment he
founded it in his beloved Church, St Stephen Walbrook in 1953,
through its expansion worldwide, to the latter years when he
stepped back to allow the movement to grow and
flourish”.
Chad retained a watchful eye
over Samaritans even after his retirement. As recently as Summer
2007, he had a particularly happy meeting with the Chief Executive,
Dominic Rudd, and Chairman hearing about all those people who
continue his original, enlightened and essential work – of active
listening - providing support to people living through emotionally
difficult times.
Steve Evans, Chair of
Samaritans, adds, “It was Chad’s inspiration and untiring
determination that created Samaritans. In 54 years, his
founding work has helped literally millions of people, throughout
the UK, the Republic of Ireland and around the world through
Befrienders Worldwide, a global extension of the supportive spirit
of Samaritans. It is our honour and determination to carry on
his extraordinary work in the way he would have liked.”
Dominic Rudd, Chief
Executive, Samaritans says: “Chad was quite simply an
extraordinary man, and his legacy is a strengthened Samaritans
which seeks to make emotional health part of everyday
conversation. We have some way to go before we achieve that,
but in the meantime, Samaritans believes that offering people the
opportunity to be listened to in confidence, and accepted without
prejudice, can alleviate despair and suicidal feelings.
Chad’s vision – of a society in which people are able to explore
their feelings without fear or prejudice, in turn respecting the
feelings of others – has touched millions of people in the 54 years
since we started to offer emotional support.”
Chad Varah can be considered
a pioneer of talking therapies. Despite having no formal
psychiatric qualifications, he initiated this form of support,
based on his wider experience in the church, and through
establishing the Samaritans service. He found that if a
distressed individual could be given time and be listened to,
without judgement, they could start to find a way through even the
most difficult feelings.
Michael Varah, who
himself was appointed to Samaritans' Board
of Trustees in January 2005 (until his death in April
2007) remembered: ‘My father described this befriending of the
suicidal thus: ‘There are in this world, in every country, people
who seem to be ‘ordinary’, but who, when meeting a suicidal person,
turn out to be extraordinary. They can usually save lives. How?
They give the sad person their total attention. They
completely forget themselves. They listen … and listen … and
listen, without interrupting. They beam approvingly or shake
their heads sympathetically. After a long time, they say, ‘Please
tell me more.’ If asked for advice, they say, ‘You’re the only
person who can advise you well – what do you think you should do?’
They have no message. They do not preach. They have nothing
to sell. We call them ‘Samaritans’.”
Letter from Chad Varah
about why he set up Samaritans
Click image for larger version or download print quality image
Today, people are encouraged
to contact Samaritans for all kinds of emotional issues as soon as
they are able, in the hope that they can be supported through
difficult episodes before thoughts of suicide occur. In 1950s
Britain, suicide was illegal, making the discussion of such
thoughts and fears incredibly difficult for individuals. Chad
Varah’s ground-breaking approach to resolving this contributed
immeasurably to fundamental changes in the law and attitudes
towards this difficult subject. Moreover, Chad’s role in the
creation of an international network of charities to help people in
emotional distress and at risk of suicide worldwide, means that it
is no exaggeration to say that the global society owes him its
collective thanks.
In the Millennium New Year’s
Honours List, Her Majesty the Queen awarded the Reverend Prebendary
Dr. Chad Varah the Order of the Companion of Honour for Services to
the Samaritans. He considered his CH the greatest of the many
honours bestowed upon him in his lifetime.
The Life and
Work of Chad Varah
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Further information
Despite an initial
reluctance to follow in his father’s footsteps, Varah was persuaded
to study at Lincoln Theological College after graduating in
Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Keble College,
Oxford. His first funeral, as an assistant curate, prompted
his lifelong commitment to suicide prevention and education.
The funeral was for a 13 year old girl who had taken her own life
because she feared she was seriously ill; in fact she had started
to menstruate. Varah vowed at her graveside to devote himself
to helping other people overcome the sort of ignorance and
isolation that had ultimately caused the young girl’s death.
To subsidise the financial
demands of a growing family in the 1940s, Chad Varah the vicar
built a second career as a children’s comic scriptwriter and
visualiser, notably as one of the brains behind strip cartoon
spaceman Dan Dare.
The opportunity to act on
his promise to help people in emotional need came in 1953 when
Varah was appointed Rector to St Stephen Walbrook Church in the
City of London. In the early fifties, three suicides a day
were officially recorded in Greater London; suicide was still an
illegal act and sex education hardly existed. Varah
advertised in the press for people to help – not as trained
counsellors, but as ordinary human beings offering a listening ear
and emotional support. Inundated with people willing to help,
he opened the first drop-in centre where emotionally isolated and
distressed people could go to find a sympathetic ear – and
Samaritans was born. Chad continued to run Samaritans until
1987, thereafter remaining an active member of the
organisation.
An early proponent of sex
education, Chad Varah alerted society to the approach of the
permissive society, usually associated with the 1960s, with an
article in the Picture Post in 1952. Far more
important to him than the outraged responses of conservative
society were the 235 people who wrote in afterwards to bare their
souls, 14 of whom showed signs of considering suicide as an
option. From 1967 to 1987, Chad Varah worked as a consultant
to the sex education magazine, Forum, his work recognised
by his appointment as Patron of the Terence Higgins Trust, the UK’s
largest HIV and AIDS charity.
Chad Varah’s wife died in 1993 and his eldest son Michael died
in April this year (2007). He is survived by four children, 12
grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Edward Chad
Varah, priest and founder of Samaritans, born 12th
November 1911, died 8th November 2007.
Notes to editors
It is the aim of Samaritans
to make emotional health a mainstream issue. Samaritans'
vision is for a society where fewer people die by suicide because
people are able to share feelings of emotional distress openly
without fear of being judged. Samaritans believes that
offering people the opportunity to be listened to in confidence,
and accepted without prejudice, can alleviate despair and suicidal
feelings.
Samaritans is a registered
charity, founded in 1953, which offers 24-hour confidential
emotional support to anyone in emotional distress. The
service is offered by 17,000 trained volunteers and is entirely
dependent on voluntary support. Across the UK, you can call
Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 (1850 60 90 90 in the Republic of
Ireland) for the price of a local call. You can also write to
Samaritans at Chris, PO Box 9090, Stirling, FK8 2SA, send an email
to jo@samaritans.org or if
you are deaf or hard of hearing use the single national minicom
number 08457 90 91 92 (1850 60 90 91 in the Republic of
Ireland).