About
Samaritans is a charity which provides listening services for people who are stuggling to cope and who need to talk. Anyone can contact the Samaritans to talk about their concerns, no matter how big or small they may be. The calls the Samaritans' trained volunteers receive cover a vast range of topics including money troubles, education, family struggles, relationship issues, loneliness, feeling worthless, feeling sad or angry all the time, getting into trouble, being abused, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. Their volunteers do not judge callers, and they care about how your life is making you feel. Contacting Samaritans can enable you to anonymously discuss what's worrying you, and receive support to explore the options available to you.
Contact Details
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Freephone telephone number: 116 123
The number above can accept calls at any time, day or night.
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Email: Jo@samaritans.org
Email responses are usually provided within 24 hours.
Information for Schools
Education settings including talks and visits should direct enquiries to: outreach@gloucestersamaritans.org
Policies and Strategies
Read about Samaritans’ five-year strategy, which outlines our main priorities and how we’re working towards our vision that fewer people die by suicide.
At Samaritans we believe it's important to create a suicide-safer internet for everyone, while still making sure the support the internet provides remains available.
Our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion is one of the key principles in our new strategy and will connect with everything we do, guiding the way we work and behave.
Sometimes, you may not be ‘ok’ and you just need someone to talk to, but everyone is busy and dealing with their own pressures. Sound familiar?
If you need someone to listen, you can contact the Samaritans on 116 123 – they are available any time – day or night.
Can you support others?
You can also provide a listening ear to colleagues and the Samaritans have provided some helpful key listening tips (SHUSH) on how you can offer support.
SHUSH:
Show you care – give the other person your full attention, maintain eye contact and focus on them.
Have patience – creating trust can take time, don’t rush them to express what they’re feeling. Through non-judgemental listening and being patient, you are allowing the person to relax into the conversation and reflect on any difficult emotions.
Use open questions – avoid questions that close down conversation, such as ‘are you ok?’, try instead ‘what’s been going on for you today?’. Being open minded can encourage people to reflect, open up and talk. Reassure people that there are no right or wrong answers!
Say it back – you can check that you’re hearing what they want you to hear, and it lets them know you are listening.
Have courage – it might be uncomfortable to ask someone how they feel, but people won’t talk unless they want to, and you don’t have to fill every silence.
Sometimes it is exactly what somebody needs to be able to share what’s on their mind.
Tagged under: help, support, mental health, services, Samaritans, suicide, self-harm
