Kingston
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The group meeting due to be hosted by Kingston WI on May 19 has been cancelled as too few replied to our invitations.
Our speaker Fiona Harrison has been a Samaritan’s volunteer for seven years. There are 20,000 volunteers taking 5.4 million calls; one every six second. It costs £160 a day to keep a branch open, some opening 24/7. In 2015 there were 6188 suicides in the UK, suicide is the biggest killer of men. Training is long and thorough, then a six month probation period and mandatory ongoing training. Samaritans was founded in 1953 by Chad Varah, a vicar, after he took the funeral of a fourteen year old girl who, although menstruating, thought she was dying. The Samaritans are confidential, non-judgemental and don’t give advice, they listen. There is a drop-in face-to-face- service too. Subjects discussed include drugs, loneliness, health, family, abuse, work place. Calls can be from anywhere and will be diverted to a free listener, anywhere. Due to the stressful calls, volunteers often need help themselves. The Samaritans go into schools and talk of their work and have set up listeners’ services in prisons which are always face-to-face and where listeners are supported every 2 weeks. 80 percent of prisoners have mental health issues and as the listeners know what it is like, can be very empathetic. Our next meeting is on June 1, Colour and Style, know what suits you. All are welcome. (Helen Dudley).
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