Peterborough Samaritans Thank Donors

As the pandemic continues to impact people's lives, the kindness and generosity shown by our supporters, donors and partners during these challenging times has enabled Peterborough Samaritans to continue to be there 24/7 for anyone who is struggling to cope. That's why we're organising a Thanking Day to reach out to thank as many of them as we possibly can to show them just how much we really appreciate their support.

Peterborough and District Samaritans have just completed the refurbishment of their Training Room to bring it into service as a larger office for volunteers to take phone calls and emails from people who are experiencing distress, contemplating suicide or needing emotional support. We would like to thank our partners for assisting us in ensuring that our volunteers have a more purposeful space to work in.

• IKEA Peterborough who donated office furniture to equip both our offices, worth £3000.
• Princebuild Ltd who co-ordinated the refurbishment work at a very competitive price.
• The Property Services Team at Aragon on behalf of Peterborough City Council who enabled several structural improvements to lighting, ventilation and access.
• The Pears Foundation / DCMS grant for enabling the move to a new communications platform with digital phone lines.

Before the refurbishment, the room was used for training, meetings, storage and catering. Its multiple uses meant that it had not been equipped to the standard of our working office. Although Peterborough Samaritans have continued to support callers right through the pandemic, to maintain safe working conditions in our existing Office, we had to limit the number of volunteers on duty to two at any one time. This seriously limited our ability to train and mentor new Listening Volunteers who follow an intensive programme, supported by two experienced Samaritans. We took the decision to repurpose our larger rear room as a new Office which would have space to maintain significant social distancing for three or four volunteers. At the same time, we recognised that we would benefit from up-to-date equipment and facilities, making our volunteers even more efficient.

Martin Cragg, Director of Peterborough Samaritans said: “As a small, self-funded charity, we accepted that we might have to cut corners and use existing equipment and decoration in our larger office. Thanks to the generosity of our donors and partners, we have been able to set up a business-standard workspace which is Covid-safe for volunteers and has improved the quality of our communications platform so that we can serve our callers better. Each donation has added to the comfort and efficiency of the space. We also have the benefit of a second Office available for extra duties or for online training.”

Thanks to the generosity of our partners, we have been able to restart our mentoring programme for trainees who started their course back in October 2020. We are now recruiting again.

If you are interested in becoming a Samaritans volunteer, please contact: [email protected]