Doherty snatched of the title at the final whistle

Date: Monday 19th May 2008

Contact: Claire Duncan

Phone: +44 (0)20 8394 8345

Email: c.duncan@samaritans.org

Out of hours press phone: +44 (0)7943 809162      

Pete Doherty at Soccer Six

Samaritans is charity of the year for star-studded football match

Pete Doherty and his Babyshambles team mates were unable to defend the title at   Samaritans Celebrity Soccer Six football tournament at Millwall FC yesterday. 

Despite showing some impressive foot work, Babyshambles lost out 3-1 in the final match to the Faithless team. Anticipated rivals for the title McFly crashed out of the tournament in the semi-finals.

Samaritans is Soccer Six’s charity of the year for the fourth year running and ticket sales and celebrity donations with be donated to the emotional support charity to ensure Samaritans remains available 24 hours a day to support anyone in emotional distress.

Pete Doherty continues his support for Samaritans and praised the service it offers, particularly in helping prisoners: "Samaritans provide a service called the listeners where they train inmates so if you're struggling any time during the night you've got someone you can spill your heart out to," he said.

Celebrities teams including The Wombats, The Twang, Justin Hawkins and Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, Michelle Heaton, Jade Goody, Dave Gorman, contestants from Big Brother, X Factor, The Apprentice and Shipwrecked all played for charity, raising both funds and awareness for Samaritans.

Mcfly at Soccer Six

Claire Duncan from Samaritans said: “Soccer Six allows Samaritans to raise awareness of the 24:7 emotional support that we offer and in light of the recent suicides in Bridgend in Wales it is vital that we reach out to young people out to young people at an earlier stage before problems seem much more difficult to manage. .Samaritans is here to listen, not to judge or make assumptions but to give people the time and space to work through how they are feeling. If you need emotional support then get in touch.”

-ends-

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 16,800 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) email jo@samaritans.org, write to Samaritans at Chris, PO Box 9090, Stirling, FK8 2SA, or if you are deaf or hard of hearing use the single national minicom number 08457 90 91 92. Log on to www.samaritans.org for more information. Calls from BT will be charged at up to 4 pence per minute at all times. A call set-up fee of 3 pence per minute applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers' charges may vary.