The Listening Walk
Pictured above: Ann Barron and David Matthews on arrival to East Coast Samaritans
David Matthews walked from Kilkenny branch of Samaritans to come to East Coast Samaritans, he met with Ann Barron the Director of East Coast Samaritans in Coolgreany Co Wexford and they walked to East Coast Samaritans branch in Paramount Lane Main Street Arklow Co Wicklow.
Volunteers from East Coast Samaritans were delighted to meet and greet them on their arrival at the branch on 2nd of October 2021 at approximately 14:10
David began walking from his branch in Doncaster on his 60th birthday, April 14th 2019. He began thinking he would walk from branch to branch in his region but felt he could not stop there and the journey continued. He drew a route on google maps to see what mileage it would be to travel to every branch, he said it would be an estimated 6,000 miles. David was inspired to walk to every single Samaritan branch known to UK and Ireland because he recognized volunteers were doing various outreach activities to raise awareness of the work Samaritans do by organizing parachute jumps, cycles and marathons he thought it would be a great idea to begin 'the listening walk'.
To this date David has walked over 5,700 miles and today visited his 188th branch of Samaritans. He told us he has worn out eight pairs of footwear, he is on his 9th pair of Hoka runners. Tomorrow he will begin his walk to Newbridge branch then complete his walk in Ireland by visiting the Dublin branch of Samaritans before returning to UK to walk to eleven more branches before he finishes his journey and has a well deserved rest.
David said visiting the various branches across the regions has been a great experience, buildings are different, old houses and new buildings but Samaritans are all the same, he enjoyed meeting members of the public having good chats and creating awareness by giving out some cards with the freephone number 116 123 for anyone that needs support. He enjoyed interacting with volunteers at the branches he visited. He has completed listening duties at various branches on his travels. David is looking forward to visiting the remaining thirteen branches on his list.
If you would like to follow Davids journey please check out the links below:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/over6000miles
Twitter: https://Twitter.com/WalkListening
Instagram: https://www.Instagram.com/thelisteningwalk
If you would like to donate to the listening walk: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/DavidMatthews
David's message of support and encouragement
"If you think you can't do something, have a go, you might surprise yourself"