Editing Samaritans (charity)

{{Short description|United Kingdom and Ireland mental health charity}}
{{Redirect|The Samaritans|the ethnoreligious group|Samaritans|other uses|Samaritan (disambiguation)}}
{{Distinguish|Samaritan's Purse}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox organization
|name         = Samaritans
|image        = [[File:Samaritans_2019.svg|200px]]
|size         = 200px
|caption      = Samaritans logo as of 2019
|abbreviation = 
|motto        = 
|formation    = 1953
|extinction   = 
|type         = 
|status       = 
|purpose      = 
|headquarters = [[Ewell]], England<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.samaritans.org/legal|title=Legal|access-date=28 May 2017}}</ref>
|location     = 
|region_served = {{hlist | Great Britain<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.samaritans.org/about_samaritans.aspx |title=About us |publisher=Samaritans |access-date=21 December 2013}}</ref><ref>[http://www.samaritans.org/about_samaritans/ireland_scotland_and_wales/samaritans_work_in_scotland.aspx ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120707042710/http://www.samaritans.org/about_samaritans/ireland_scotland_and_wales/samaritans_work_in_scotland.aspx |date=7 July 2012 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.samaritans.org/about_samaritans/ireland_scotland_and_wales/samaritans_in_wales.aspx ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120707042402/http://www.samaritans.org/about_samaritans/ireland_scotland_and_wales/samaritans_in_wales.aspx |date=7 July 2012 }}</ref> | Ireland<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.samaritans.org/talk_to_someone/find_my_local_branch/ireland.aspx |title=work in Ireland |publisher=Samaritans |access-date=21 December 2013}}</ref>}}<br />See also [[#International reach|International reach]]
|membership   = 
|language     =
|leader_title = Founder
|leader_name  = [[Chad Varah]]
|main_organ   = 
|parent_organization = 
|affiliations = 
|num_staff    = 
|num_volunteers =
|budget       = 
|website      = [http://www.samaritans.org/ samaritans.org]                     
|footnotes    = 
}}
'''Samaritans''' is a registered [[charitable organisation|charity]] aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope or at risk of [[suicide]] throughout the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], often through its [[crisis hotline|telephone helpline]]. Its name derives from the [[Bible|biblical]] [[parable of the Good Samaritan]], although the organisation itself is not religious.

Its international network exists under the name [[Befrienders Worldwide]], which is part of the [[Volunteer Emotional Support Helplines]] (VESH) with [[Lifeline (counselling service)|Lifeline]] International and the International Federation of Telephone Emergency Services (IFOTES).

==History==
[[File:Samaritans Coventry 6f08.JPG|right|thumb|The [[Coventry]] branch of Samaritans]]
Samaritans was founded in 1953 by the Rev. [[Chad Varah]], a Church of England [[vicar]] in the Diocese of London. His inspiration came from an experience he had had some years earlier as a young curate in the [[Diocese of Lincoln]]. He had taken a funeral for a fourteen-year old girl who had died by suicide because she believed she had contracted an [[Sexually transmitted disease|STI]], when in reality she was [[menstruating]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Burleigh|first=James|title=Rev. Chad Varah, Anglican Priest Who Helped the Suicidal, Dies at 95|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=10 November 2007|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/10/world/europe/10varah.html|access-date =27 June 2009}}
</ref> Varah placed an advertisement in a newspaper encouraging people to volunteer at his church, listening to people contemplating suicide.<ref>{{Cite news
  | last = Bernstein
  | first = Adam
  | title = Chad Varah; Priest's Suicide Hotline Grew Into the Samaritans Movement
  | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]
  | date = 10 November 2007
| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/09/AR2007110902420_pf.html
  | access-date =27 June 2009}}
</ref>

The movement grew rapidly: within ten years there were 40 branches and now there are 201 branches across [[Great Britain]] and [[Ireland]], deliberately organised without regard to national boundaries on the basis that a service which is not political or religious should not recognise political or sectarian divisions.<ref name="history">{{cite web
 |title       = Samaritans History
 |publisher   = Samaritans
 |url         = http://www.samaritans.org/about_samaritans/governance_and_history/samaritans_history.aspx
 |access-date  = 20 June 2009
|url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090402133641/http://www.samaritans.org/about_samaritans/governance_and_history/samaritans_history.aspx
 |archive-date = 2 April 2009
|df          = dmy-all
}}</ref> Samaritans offers support through over 21,200 trained volunteers (2015) and is entirely dependent on voluntary support. The name was not originally chosen by Chad Varah: it was part of a headline to an article in the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' newspaper on 7 December 1953 about Varah's work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.samaritans.org/images/sams-mirrorarticle.gif|title=Samaritans.org|access-date=28 May 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080801074214/http://www.samaritans.org/images/sams-mirrorarticle.gif|archive-date=1 August 2008}}</ref>

In 1972, [[BBC One|BBC1]] ran an 11-episode television series called ''[[The Befrienders]]'', featuring fictional stories about people in desperate situations who reach out to the Samaritans.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Holding |first=T. A. |date=May 1974 |title=The B.B.C. 'befrienders' series and its effects |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.124.5.470 |journal=British Journal of Psychiatry |volume=124 |issue=582 |pages=470–472 |doi=10.1192/bjp.124.5.470 |pmid=4836377 |via=EBSCOhost}}</ref> Although it was cancelled after one season, the series helped to raise public awareness about their work, leading to a significant increase in inbound calls, as well as a surge in the number of volunteers in the UK.<ref name=":20">{{Cite book |last=Forrest |first=Hilary |url=https://archive.org/details/earstohear50year0000forr/page/84/mode/2up?q=befrienders%20samaritans%20BBC#page/84/mode/2up/search/befrienders?q=befrienders+samaritans+BBC |title=Ears to Hear : 50 years of Samaritan Listening |date=2003 |publisher=Sedjem Press |isbn=9780954511401 |location=Massachusetts |pages=85–86}}</ref><ref name=":2" />

In 2004, Samaritans announced that volunteer numbers had reached a thirty-year low, and launched a campaign to recruit more young people (specifically targeted at ages 18–24) to become volunteers. The campaign was fronted by [[Phil Selway]], drummer with the band [[Radiohead]], himself a Samaritans volunteer.

In 2004, Chad Varah announced that he had become disillusioned with Samaritans. He said, "It's no longer what I founded. I founded an organisation to offer help to suicidal or equally desperate people. The last elected chairman re-branded the organisation. It was no longer to be an emergency service, it was to be emotional support".<ref>[[Anthony J. Jordan]] "The Good Samaritans, Memoir of a Biographer". pp.7-20. Westport Books {{ISBN|978-0-9524447-5-6}}.</ref> One in five calls to Samaritans is from someone with suicidal feelings.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.samaritans.org/sites/default/files/kcfinder/files/Samaritans%20Impact%20Report%202012.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=4 July 2014 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924094141/http://www.samaritans.org/sites/default/files/kcfinder/files/Samaritans%20Impact%20Report%202012.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Samaritans' vision is that fewer people will die by suicide.<ref>{{cite web
 |title       = Vision Mission and Values
 |publisher   = Samaritans
 |url         = http://www.samaritans.org/about_samaritans/governance_and_history/samaritans_history.aspx
 |access-date  = 20 June 2009
|url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090402133641/http://www.samaritans.org/about_samaritans/governance_and_history/samaritans_history.aspx
 |archive-date = 2 April 2009
|df          = dmy-all
}}</ref>

In 2005, a rapprochement was reached when Varah met with the new chief executive, and then chairman, of The Samaritans and enjoyed hearing about the continued essential and enlightened work Varah had begun in 1953. In 2006, Varah's eldest son, Michael Varah, was appointed to sit on the newly created board of trustees.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2007-11-08 |title=Rev Dr Chad Varah |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/nov/08/guardianobituaries.obituaries3 |access-date=2024-02-16 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

==Services==
[[File:Beachy Head suicide phone.jpg|thumb|right|Sign promoting Samaritans near a payphone at [[Beachy Head]]]]
The core of Samaritans' work is a [[crisis hotline|telephone helpline]], operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Samaritans was the first 24-hour telephone helpline to be set up in the UK.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} In addition, the organisation offers a drop-in service for face-to-face discussion, undertakes outreach at festivals and other outdoor events, trains prisoners as "Listeners" to provide support within prisons, and undertakes research into suicide and emotional health issues.

Since 1994, Samaritans has also offered confidential [[email]] support. Initially operating from one branch, the service is now provided by 198 branches and co-ordinated from the organisation's head office. In 2011, Samaritans received over 206,000 emails, including many from outside the UK, and aims to answer each one within 24 hours.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Contact a Samaritan|url=https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/|access-date=12 June 2020|website=Samaritans|language=en-GB}}</ref>

Samaritans is currently piloting a [https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/chat-online/ webchat service] to allow correspondents to communicate with listening volunteers by instant message.

In 2009, Ofcom introduced the first harmonised European numbers for harmonised services of social value,<ref name="116xxx-guide">{{cite web | url=http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/numbering/guidance-tele-no/116-euro-numbers | title=Harmonised European numbers for harmonised services of social value (116XXX numbers) | author=Ofcom | author-link=Ofcom | publisher=Office of Communications | date=27 July 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727000915/http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/numbering/guidance-tele-no/116-euro-numbers | archive-date=27 July 2010 | url-status=live}}</ref> allocating 116 123 to Samaritans. This number is free to call from mobiles and landlines. From 22 September 2015, Samaritans has promoted 116123 as its main number, replacing the chargeable 0845 number previously advertised.

In 2014, Samaritans received 5,100,000 calls for help by phone, email, text, letter, [[minicom]], [[Action on Hearing Loss|Typetalk]], face-to-face at a branch, through its work in prisons, and at local and national festivals and other events.<ref name="facts">{{cite web|url=http://www.samaritans.org/about_samaritans/facts_and_figures.aspx|title=Suicide: facts and figures|access-date=28 May 2017}}</ref>

Samaritans volunteers are given rigorous training to be non-judgmental and empathetic. By listening and asking open questions, Samaritans volunteers try to help people explore their feelings and work out their own way forward.{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}}

Samaritans does not denounce suicide, and it is not necessary to be suicidal to contact Samaritans. In 2014, nearly 80% of the people calling Samaritans did not express suicidal feelings.<ref name="facts" /> Samaritans believes that offering people the opportunity to be listened to in confidence, and accepted without prejudice, can alleviate despair and make [[emotional health]] a mainstream issue.

In 2022, Samaritans campaigned to have "suicide websites" shut down; stating that it believed that the UK government's [[Online Safety Act 2023|proposed online safety bill]] "isn't fit for purpose". Smaller "pro-suicide" websites which can push people to commit suicide are the charity's biggest concern in this area.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Crawford|first=Angus|date=3 February 2022|title=The families fighting to shut down suicide websites|page=1|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-60236776|access-date=3 February 2022}}</ref>

=== Media guidelines ===
In 2013, following extensive consultation with journalists and editors throughout the industry, Samaritans produced a set of guidelines outlining best practice when reporting suicide. Since its publication, the organisation has received many awards in recognition of its work influencing the way in which suicide is reported.

==Confidentiality==
Samaritans have a strict code of caller confidentiality, even after the death of a caller. Unless the caller gives consent to pass on information, confidentiality will be broken only in rare circumstances, such as when Samaritans receives bomb or terrorism warnings, to call an ambulance because a caller appears to be incapable of making rational decisions, when the caller is threatening volunteers or deliberately preventing the service being delivered to other callers, or when there is a safeguarding concern.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.samaritans.org/about_samaritans/frequent_questions/confidential.aspx|title=Confidentiality|access-date=28 May 2017}}</ref>

In November 2011, the Board of Trustees agreed a motion breaking with confidentiality in Ireland, "To provide confidential support to children but report to the Health Service Executive any contacts (from either adults or children) where it appears a child is experiencing specific situations such as those that can cause them serious harm from themselves or others."

In 2011, [[Facebook]] collaborated with Samaritans to offer help to people in distress. This led to 'cold case' calling, which some believed was an infringement on people's privacy. An Irish journalist wrote of her experience of receiving such a communication.<ref>{{cite news|last=O'Brien|first=Ciara|title=The day Facebook asked me: 'are you in crisis?'|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|date=30 May 2013|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/the-day-facebook-asked-me-are-you-in-crisis-1.1411396|access-date=8 June 2015}}</ref>

==International reach==
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Through its email service, Samaritans' work has extended well beyond the UK and Ireland, as messages are received from all around the world.

Samaritans' international reach is through [[Befrienders Worldwide]], an organisation of over 400 centres in 38 countries offering similar activities. Samaritans took on and renamed the Befrienders International network in 2003, a year after it collapsed. Some members of Befrienders Worldwide also use the name Samaritans; this includes centres in [[Hong Kong]], India, [[Serbia]], the United States and [[Zimbabwe]].

The [[Volunteer Emotional Support Helplines]] (VESH) combines Samaritans (through Befrienders Worldwide) with the other two largest international services (IFOTES & [[Lifeline (counselling service)|Lifeline]]), and plans a combined international network of helplines. In their roles as emotional support service networks, they have all agreed to develop a more effective and robust international interface.

See also:

* [[The Samaritans Hong Kong]] (Multilingual Service)
* [[The Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong]]
* [[Samaritans of Singapore]]
* Samaritans USA<ref>{{cite web
  | title = Samaritans: Suicide Prevention, Intervention & Postvention 
  | url = http://www.samaritanshope.org
  | access-date =27 June 2009 }}</ref>—this was formed in 2005 when Samaritans of Boston (established 1974) joined forces with their Framingham branch. Samaritans is also a certified member of Contact USA (a [[Lifeline (counselling service)|Lifeline]] International member).<ref>{{cite web| title =LifeLine International| year =2009| url =http://www.lifeline-international.org/international_offices| access-date =27 June 2009| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090423014148/http://lifeline-international.org/international_offices| archive-date =23 April 2009| df =dmy-all}}</ref> There are Samaritans offices in other regions of Massachusetts and the U.S. operating independently with a common mission and philosophy.

==Similar charities==

A number of other helplines exist that offer a similar service to Samaritans. These are often aimed at a specific sector/group of people.

One example is [[Nightline (student service)|Nightline]], a student-run listening and information services, based at universities across the country, offer a night time support service for students. Each service is run specifically for students at a particular university/geographical area, and most Nightlines are members of the Nightline Association, a registered charity in England, Wales and Scotland.

Shout is a free mental health helpline in the United Kingdom, providing the UK's first 24/7 text message support service for people who are struggling to cope.

In the UK, the [[Childline|ChildLine]] service operated by the [[NSPCC]] (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) is similar to the Samaritans helpline in some ways, but offers support for children only. A similar service, also called Childline,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ispcc.ie/childline/ | title=Childline }}</ref> is operated in Ireland by the [[Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children]] (ISPCC).

Another example is [[Aware (voluntary organisation)|Aware]], a national voluntary organisation, based in Ireland, which provides supports to individuals who experience [[Major depressive disorder|depression]] with their families and friends. It provides a Helpline service, as well as nationwide Support Groups and monthly lectures, which seek to educate and increase awareness of depression.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aware.ie/|title=Depression Support - Depression Help Ireland - Aware|website=www.aware.ie|access-date=28 May 2017}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Mental health in the United Kingdom]]
* [[Andy's Man Club]]  - Men's talking group

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Samaritans (charity)}}
*{{Official website}} (UK/Ireland-based)
*{{EW charity|219432}}
*[http://www.samaritansusa.org/ Samaritans (USA) home page]
*[http://www.befrienders.org/ Welcome to Befrienders Worldwide]
*[http://www.sos.org.sg/ Samaritans of Singapore] is a non-profit and non-religious organisation which aims to provide 24-hour confidential emotional support to people in crisis, thinking of suicide or affected by suicide.

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{{Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Samaritans (Charity)}}
[[Category:Charities based in the Republic of Ireland]]
[[Category:Epsom and Ewell]]
[[Category:Health charities in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Health in Surrey]]
[[Category:Mental health organisations in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Organisations based in Surrey]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1953]]
[[Category:Suicide prevention]]
[[Category:1953 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Crisis hotlines]]