“It’s a great feeling to be part of an extended family as a Listening Volunteer at the Derby Branch. You make new and lasting friendships and receive great support from your duty partner”.
I realise I’ve always been interested in people and wanted to help them. I found out about Samaritans about twenty five years ago from a very good friend; he was a listening volunteer and he sparked my interest. Being there for callers who needed emotional support seemed to me to fit my interests perfectly. I embarked on my training and six months later I became a Listening Volunteer. After almost two years of volunteering, my mother became increasingly poorly and unable to cope on her own. I decided to put aside my volunteering to support her.
Sixteen years later I went to the funeral of a Samaritans volunteer I'd worked with during my time with the Branch. I found out that there was an open invitation to an information evening at the Branch and I considered going along. It was a big decision to make; at the time I was recovering from alcohol addiction so I had to be certain it was the right time to begin retraining. I realised that after being in a position where I’d needed emotional support for some time, I really wanted to give something back to the community. I felt I could empathise greatly with callers who were going through addiction and mental health problems. Coming out the other side of addiction is one thing but recover certainly takes its toll on your mental health. There are many demons to cope with including understanding the reasons for drifting into addiction in the first place.
I decided to retrain and received a lot of support from fellow volunteers and everyone at the Branch. It wasn’t without difficulties but I was proud of becoming a Listening Volunteer and seven years on I am still glad I made the decision to return.
I think becoming a Listening Volunteer continues to have a big impact on me and my life. Going into the Branch to do a shift I often feel quite overwhelmed but once I start that first call, I realise I can do this and I’m there for the callers. More often than not I leave a shift feeling I have very little in my life to be concerned about. Being a listening volunteer certainly puts things into perspective; it’s a good leveller.
Occasionally I’ve been thanked by a caller. Being told I’ve listened to their concerns and helped them means a lot to me. I feel valued and it does help boost my confidence
I realise I don’t judge people like I used to do. Our training helps us understand we don’t know what a person is going through in their life. I’ve definitely become better at listening to people, whether it’s on shift or listening to friends and family.
One challenge is not giving advice, particularly if it’s a situation where I have experience. But our training helps us encourage callers to find their own solutions and explore their options.
One of the best bits about being a Listening Volunteer is being told by a caller that I’ve been “extremely patient” and “absolutely amazing”. It allows me to reflect that I must be doing something right.
I have met some fantastic people who have been my duty partners at the Branch. Some of them have gone on to be very good friends. The social aspect of being a Listening Volunteer has been very rewarding.
There are challenging times. Sometimes a caller’s issues are so complex and overwhelming, there is nothing that I can say to make a difference. I hope that being there to listen means a caller feels valued and that they are not alone.
Yes, I do think I make a difference. I have never regretted going back to retrain. It’s good we have a Branch and Listeners who care so callers don’t have to be alone at their time of need.
I would say to someone who’s thinking of being a Listening Volunteer that it’s a wonderful training course that teaches someone to empathise so much about difficulties in the lives of people. It’s challenging and you’ll learn a lot about yourself on the way. And you’ll make new friends.
If you want to find out more about Derby Samaritans and how you can get involved go to www.samaritans.org/branches/derby/
It costs the Derby Branch £40,000 to keep the Branch open. If you’d like to support our work go to https://samaritanscommunity.enthuse.com/samaritansofsderby/profile
Last year our 80+ volunteers gave nearly 7,000 hours to our callers, reaching out to nearly 18,000 callers by 'phone and online chat, 24/7 every day of the year.