Supporting Whitehaven

Samaritans of West Cumbria responds to Derrick Bird shooting tragedy

6 June 2010

This weekend, Samaritans volunteers found themselves out on the streets supporting the people of Whitehaven for reasons they would never have imagined just a few days earlier.

Some residents said they wanted to know how they should be feeling. Others said that they couldn’t sleep. All felt shocked that something so violent and tragic had happened in their small, peaceful, close-knit community.

Samaritans Press Officer Robyn Clark went to Whitehaven to find out how Samaritans is responding to the tragedy.

 

Checking on their loved ones

On Wednesday 2 June, when Derrick Bird’s shootings began in Cumbria, people started calling their families and friends to find out what had happened. Information came through in pieces, some rumors, some facts. The local phone networks became jammed as people tried to check their loved ones were safe.

Steve, the branch director of West Cumbria Samaritans, first heard news of the shootings when he was at work at Sellafield nuclear plant. They announced over the tannoy system that, due to a serious external incident, no-one was to enter the plant and no-one was to leave.

 

Organising Samaritans’ response

Some of the initial shootings took place right in the centre of Whitehaven by the taxi rank on Duke Street. Situated just across the road from the shootings, Samaritans’ West Cumbria branch was forced to close its doors and volunteers were evacuated by the police for their own safety.

On Thursday, Steve and his team from the branch quickly realised that they needed to pro-actively support the community by offering a drop-in centre at the branch at the weekend, for those who needed to talk about how they were feeling.

Volunteers would also go out and talk to people on the street on both days.

Neighbouring Samaritans branches were unequivocal in their support. Frank, branch director of Carlisle Samaritans, spoke to his volunteers and they offered to come down to Whitehaven to run the drop-in and ‘feet on the street’ work. Lancaster branch agreed to pick up all the calls and emails that came into West Cumbria Samaritans during this time, so that volunteers in Whitehaven could focus on outreach work.

Steve also had a significant role talking to the media. 

 

A sign outside West Cumbria Samaritans

 

Out on the streets

At the weekend, the railings of the taxi rank where the shootings happened were lined with flowers and messages of grief.

West Cumbria Samaritans opened at 10am with volunteers ready at the door to welcome people in and hand out flyers and cards to passers-by. But mostly, people talked to Samaritans volunteers in the street, the pubs and the cafes.

Some residents said they wanted to know how they should be feeling. Others said that they couldn’t sleep. All felt shocked that something so violent and tragic had happened in their small, peaceful, close-knit community.

For some, the incident had compounded feelings from other personal traumas and losses, past and recent. People who already experience mental health problems reported that their feelings of anxiety and depression had been exacerbated. Most people said they were stunned and asked: Why? What if I had gone into town that day? What if I had taken the kids out?

Still others had been in the midst of it that day and were traumatised by what they saw. And then there were the people who had lost someone close to them, and were simply devastated.

Said Steve:

People are only just coming to terms with the floods, and then there was the bus crash last week.

There is a sense of Northern grit here, but just because it is people’s way to get on with things, it doesn’t mean that they don’t feel things, and that they don’t need support and to talk about their emotions."

Keith, a Samaritan volunteer from the West Cumbria Branch, speaks of his experiences of the memorial service.

 

Supporting Whitehaven in the future

Euan, chair of the committee at Samaritans West Cumbria, who joined in the weekend's 'feet on the street' activity said a local resident had told him that she thought it was going to hit everyone in the coming weeks, when things sunk in, and that people would need support then. She asked: "Are you still going to be here when that happens?"

As Euan explained, the branch was always there to offer confidential, emotional support to anyone who needed it, and would continue to be there for the community in the coming weeks and months.

 

Flowers beside the taxi rank in Whitehaven

Steve says:

Everyone is still dazed and confused as to how something like this could happen in Whitehaven. It’s surreal: I don’t even lock my car here. All of us [volunteers] know people who have been hurt but it helps us deal with it by being able to do something to help others, to feel less helpless.

"It has made me proud to be a Samaritan and I am proud that the branch has stepped up to be there for people who might need us."

If you've been affected by any of the issues raised by the incident in Cumbria, Samaritans are available 24 hours a day if you want to talk to someone.

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, or write to Samaritans at Chris, PO Box 9090, Stirling, FK8 2SA. Find out more about contacting Samaritans.

To contact Samaritans' Press Team, please contact Samaritans head office on +44 (0)20 8394 8300.

Outside office hours, you can contact the press team on +44 (0)7943 809 162.