Foreword
Preventing suicide is urgent.
Every 90 minutes someone in the UK and Ireland dies by suicide. Each death leads to heartbreak for their friends, family and the people who knew them. We need to stop suicide being seen as someone's only way out. Our strategy will help us save lives now and in the future.
Today, our trained volunteers answer a call for help every 10 seconds. Listening without judgement or pressure. We are there in the moment when someone feels like they can't go on. Preventing suicide through the power of human connection.
Alongside other organisations working to prevent suicide, we've made some great inroads in challenging the root causes of suicide and changing public attitudes. Public concern for mental health and suicide is higher than ever before; every government in the UK and Ireland has a suicide prevention strategy.
But to truly tackle suicide prevention we need to do more. And that starts with us. We've taken a challenging look at our organisational resilience and effectiveness. We've reviewed our previous strategy, assessed the different ways in which we aim to reduce suicide.
We've considered what people need from us today and what people will need from us in the future and looked seriously at how our service is currently structured and delivered.
We've asked ourselves difficult questions and consulted with people with lived experience, our partners and other experts. Are we as Samaritans doing enough? Are we demonstrating our effectiveness and do we fully understand what people need from Samaritans? Can we work more in partnership, or recognise when others are better placed to address particular issues or people's needs?
To remain effective at saving lives today and in the years to come, we must adapt to a changing environment. One where people want and expect different things from us both as callers and volunteers, one with huge shifts in technology and one that will be tough economically. We must make changes to how we operate now to keep saving lives in years to come.
We know that we need to answer calls for help more quickly, especially at night. We must reach more people who are at risk of suicide. We need to fully understand and evaluate the impact of our services. And offer flexible volunteering so we can continue to keep our helpline open 24/7 and recruit volunteers for the future. We need to challenge the inequality that puts some people at risk and the stigma around suicide that prevents people from getting help.
Preventing suicide requires both compassion and focus. Working together across Samaritans we'll put our energy and resources into the services and activities that are most likely to support people in emotional crisis and reduce suicide risk. Together we'll make sure Samaritans is resilient, flexible and sustainable for the future. Change is not easy. But it is the right thing to do.
Samaritans is a charity built on the commitment of thousands of passionate, dedicated people - our volunteers, staff, partners and supporters across the UK and Ireland. Together, we bring expertise, empathy and determination to our work while remaining rooted in the voices and experiences of the people we exist to support.
Preventing suicide is a shared responsibility and requires collective effort. I am deeply grateful to everyone who contributes their time, expertise, commitment and support to our work. As we continue to live in a complex, fast changing and increasingly disconnected world, the need to maintain a relentless focus on suicide prevention has never felt more important. Now more than ever, let us come together, human to human. Because together we can prevent suicide, today and every day.
Julie Bentley
Chief Executive, Samaritans
My main motivator for becoming a volunteer was that I didn’t ever want someone to end their life because they didn’t get the help they needed. Sometimes help doesn’t come physically, it comes from an ear and listening. That could be enough to save someone’s life, just giving them a safe space to speak.
Fatemah