On 2nd November 1953, Chad Varah, a vicar and writer-cartoonist, answered the first ever call to a brand new helpline for people contemplating suicide.
In Chad’s own words, the service was, “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. Chad Varah visited York just a month before the Branch opened to offer his best wishes to the newly formed group. 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 two long standing York volunteers to hear what they had to say when they had the privilege of meeting Chad and also why they joined Samaritans…
“The final time I met Chad, a couple of years before he died, was at a dinner in the House of Commons. He leaned across to me and said he felt he needed to go home. Despite pouring rain, he insisted on getting the tube home to Barnes and refused a taxi. He tottered off on his Zimmer across the wet cobbles of Parliament towards Westminster tube station, refusing any assistance.”
Roy, Deputy Director of York Samaritans, was privileged to meet Chad on several occasions in the last ten or so years of his life. He fondly remembers his strength of spirit right up until his death in 2007, aged 96.
“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.