Volunteers at the Northallerton & The Dales Samaritans branch have been celebrating 60 years of listening with their local community during outreach and fundraising events.
Established in 1964, Northallerton & the Dales was the first rural Samaritans branch. It covers a large geographical area, recruiting volunteers from across North Yorkshire, and was initially set up to support local farmers who were often isolated due to the nature of their work. Today there are 59 volunteers working from the Northallerton office, eleven of whom have each completed over ten years of service, an amazing 199 years in total.
During October Mr Rishi Sunak MP joined volunteers to talk about the 60 years of listening and their fundraising activities. His visit coincided with the Branch’s Samarathon, an event which has been used to promote the importance of movement and the positive impact it can have on physical and mental health and wellbeing. Seventeen volunteers have been walking, dancing, rowing, swimming, running and cycling as many miles as they can during the month. Together their accumulated total distance has been a fantastic 1,335.7 miles.
Mr Sunak, who is the MP for Richmond and Northallerton, said:
“The volunteers do an amazing job and I am so impressed by their commitment to the work of the Samaritans nationally but particularly the local branch.
Their recognition of the stresses and strains which can be felt by members of our rural community – such as isolation and loneliness – is so important and something which the branch has been mindful of throughout its 60 years.”
As well as its close links with the local farming community the branch’s outreach team also supports military health fairs and works closely with Network Rail.
Branch Director Debbie summarised Northallerton & The Dales branch’s contribution to the work of Samaritans saying:
“This year the Samaritans have celebrated 70 years of listening and Northallerton has been involved for 60 of those years. It is an amazing achievement when you consider that the volunteers are responsible for managing every aspect of the branch in addition to being there night and day for our callers. It is an absolute privilege to work alongside my fellow volunteers and to be part of an organization that truly makes a difference each and every day, putting our callers at the heart of everything we do.”