Our Branch has been serving the Coventry and Warwickshire sub region since 1964 and we are looking forward to celebrating our 60th birthday this year.
We currently have 90 listening volunteers but are planning on growing this number in the coming year. We have 19 potential volunteers lined up to start their training in April and hope to have another similar sized intake in the autumn.
Please click here if you are interested in volunteering with us.
If you do not wish to be a listening volunteer but feel that you have expertise and experience in other fields from which we could benefit we would be delighted to hear from you. We would welcome enquiries from people with a range of practical and technical skills or knowledge of areas such as data protection, health and safety, fundraising or general administration. If you would initially like to come along and have an informal chat, just contact me on [email protected]
One of the features of our branch is that we try to involve all our volunteers in shaping our future. Recently, for example, we had a small working group that reviewed our shift arrangements and this led to some changes to our shift rota so that we could best meet the needs of our callers.
We also make sure that we look after each other and put an emphasis on volunteer support and development. Not only do all volunteers have a mentor to help them though their training but we all also have a ‘buddy’ to provide additional support whenever it is needed. We strongly believe that we have to care for our volunteers if they are able to properly provide emotional support to our callers.
Even though our Branch is entirely staffed by unpaid volunteers we have to generate our own income to meet our ever increasing running costs. We are very fortunate in having our own charity shop that generates much needed income but are always looking for ways of bringing in additional funding.
As well as providing a listening service from our headquarters in Earlsdon we also work with a range of partners from the private, public, voluntary and community sectors and you may see our volunteers at such diverse places as railway stations, theatres, football and rugby stadiums, hospitals, libraries and festivals.
We recognise that we need to undertake this outreach work in partnership with other organisations in order to make changes that can save lives and help Samaritans nationally to achieve its mission to reduce the number of people who take their own lives.
Mark, Director of Samaritans Coventry and District
April 2024