On 2nd November 1953, Samaritans answered the first ever call to a brand new helpline for people contemplating suicide.
The service was described by our founder as, “just a man willing to listen, with a base and an emergency telephone”. Since then, Samaritans have answered more than 130 million calls for help.
The Charity now has over 22,000 volunteers - Samaritans responds to a call for help every 10 seconds.
The York Samaritans branch first opened in October 1967. The office was located at 82 Bootham and back then it was one of just 75 branches. There are now over 200 branches in locations across the UK and Ireland.
We spoke to a long-standing York volunteer to hear about why they joined Samaritans…
“I wanted to put something back into society. When I moved to York I made some enquiries and heard about Samaritans. It was a perfect opportunity. I wanted to serve the community, to listen and support. Samaritans is a wonderful organisation that cares and respects all of its callers. It doesn’t matter who you are - when you speak to us we’ll be there for you as long as you need us. We make no judgements.”
Roger, the longest serving volunteer at York Samaritans and now a Trustee for the Charity, took his first call on 3rd November 1971.
I wanted to put something back into society. When I moved to York I made some enquiries and heard about Samaritans. It was a perfect opportunity. I wanted to serve the community, to listen and support. Samaritans is a wonderful organisation that cares and respects all of its callers. It doesn’t matter who you are - when you speak to us we’ll be there for you as long as you need us. We make no judgements.
Roger, the longest serving volunteer at York Samaritans and now a Trustee for the Charity, took his first call on 3rd November 1971