Samaritans Scotland's Quarterly Update (December 23 - March 24)

Locations of Concern Workshops

As part of our work with the Scottish Government on their Suicide Prevention Strategy, we hosted four Locations of Concern workshops with Samaritans volunteers & key local stakeholders across February.

This included visits to Inverness, Dumfries & Edinburgh, as well as an online event, to help us learn from local partners across communities and better shape our national suicide prevention work.

Brew Monday

In January, we held our Samaritans Scotland Brew Monday event alongside Glasgow Samaritans volunteers at Glasgow Central Station.

Branches across the country also took part in Brew Monday by hosting events at their local train stations in partnership with Network Rail.

MSP’s and other third sector organisations took to social media to share their support for Brew Monday and to show that there’s always time for a cuppa and a catch up! ☕

Scotland Committee

Throughout the winter months, we have been looking for candidates with expertise in localised suicide prevention work, research, policy & communications to join our Scotland Committee

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Rosie Allister, Pauline Toner, John Evans and Richie Lovell, who will all bring vital experience to the committee, working alongside Amanda Millar, our Chair and Scotland Trustee, to help shape the next steps for our organisation.

Winter Campaign

Our winter campaign continued this year with the message of ‘breaking the silence’ around suicide. The campaign recognises that silence costs lives and encourages people to reach out instead of suffering alone.

The winter season is always a busy time for our volunteers with many taking shifts on Christmas Day or New Years Eve. It is only through the wonderful efforts of those volunteers that our service continues to provide a listening ear 24/7 & 365 days a year to those struggling most and we would like to say a massive thank you to all of our volunteers 💚