Registered charity: 259631
call us : 01604 637637 (branch)
call us: 08457 909090 (UK)
email us: jo@samaritans.org

  

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Some sobering statistics
Despite all the terrible diseases and illnesses we still have to deal with in the United Kingdom, suicide is in fact one of the largest causes of death in this country

- More people die by suicide each year than are killed in road accidents.

- Most people who kill themselves are men (around 75% of all suicides).However many more women actually try to kill themselves.

- For every suicide in the UK there are approximately 30 attempts and 150 hospital admissions for deliberate self-harm.

- Our most recent analysis of national suicide statistics can be downloaded in PDF format by clicking here.

- In Northampton Branch alone in 2006 we received over 13000 contacts by phone and almost 2000 by email.

- We also have contacts by letter, face-to-face, and through our work in prisons, and at local festivals and other events.

Founder of Samaritans Rev. Chad Varah

- We handle these contacts with over 100 "listening" volunteers and a further 20 to 30 "support" volunteers. Our volunteers, of whom two thirds are women, operate the service 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

- In around 20% of contacts to Samaritans, the caller expressed suicidal feelings at the time of the call.

- Since the year 2000 phone calls to Northampton have declined by around 5% a year, partly following the national trend, partly a result of the way calls are distributed.

- Growth in email contacts has been considerable since we started in January 2001. In that first month we dealt with 40 emails, in December 2006 we replied to over 150.

- The Samaritans was set up in 1953 by Chad Varah (above), a vicar working in central London at the time. He wanted to provide an emergency service that people could contact when they were feeling despairing and suicidal. Sadly Chad died on 8th November 2007 aged 95.

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Samaritans is available 24 hours a day to provide confidential emotional support for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which may lead to suicide. You can access this support by contacting us by telephone, in person or via e-mail.