Samaritans’ response to the tragic events in West Cumbria on 2 June 2010

4 June 2010

Press contact: Claire Duncan

Press phone: +44 (0)20 8394 8345

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

Following the tragic events in West Cumbria, Samaritans’ branches in the region were immediately put on alert and have taken a number of calls related to the incident. Extra volunteers have been drafted in to the Whitehaven branch of Samaritans to help support the local community, which is opening a drop-in centre from 10am – 6pm on both Saturday and Sunday (05 - 06 June).

People affected or distressed by this incident and want to talk to a volunteer about how they are feeling, can visit the branch at 22/23 Church Street, Whitehaven, CA28 7EB telephone 08457 90 90 90 or email jo@samaritans.org.

Speaking to the BBC this morning, Stephen Cannon, Branch Director of Samaritans’ Whitehaven Branch, said:

We are organising for our branch to be open over the weekend, for members of the local community to come and express how they are feeling about what has happened in the surrounding area. There is an element of northern grit here, especially over the last seven months when we’ve had to face the floods, the bus crash and now the terrible events of this week. People just tend to get on with it, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not feeling it.

As trained listeners, we find that if people are given the space and opportunity to speak about their feelings, that often helps them to find a way forward for themselves, and that’s what we hope to do over the weekend by opening up our branch."