Caithness Samaritans needs you – 'Ordinary people doing extraordinary things'
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The Caithness Samaritans branch based in Thurso is looking for volunteers to help provide a listening ear to help people struggling with their mental health.
The volunteers have been there at the end of a telephone, to listen to anyone who is in a difficult place and has no one else they feel able to talk to.
New director of the Caithness branch, Barbara Bethell, said: "We are embarking on a recruitment drive to attract more volunteers to the Caithness branch, and are looking for anyone who thinks they can help to contact Samaritans.org
"Samaritans is available 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week and the calls to our service on 116123 are entirely free, private, and confidential."
Barbara continued: "Samaritans was established more than 70 years ago, long before many other support groups – and is contacted by people of all ages, gender, and social standing; since that time, we have simply been getting on with the job, trying to do what we can to support people in despair.
"There has been a great deal of talk in the media about pressures resulting from the reduction in services for people suffering from isolation, loneliness, bereavement, financial troubles, and mental health illnesses who sometimes simply need someone to talk to; our fully trained volunteers are available to do what they can to meet that need."
The Samaritans was begun after World War Two by a man whose first job as a clergyman was to officiate at the funeral of someone who had taken their own life. This experience, and the subsequent conversations with friends and relatives, left a lasting impression. He was to later open an experimental drop-in centre to try and offer help. He soon found that the tea, biscuits and listening ear of his helpers whilst they waited to see him, was exactly the right formula. The Samaritans has grown arms and legs since that first step, but the desire to be there for those in need remains the same.
Caithness Samaritans is run entirely on donations, requests, and the fundraising activities undertaken by its volunteers. You may have encountered them rattling collection tins in the local streets, or in the supermarkets. They also have a presence at the County Show, and other summer events in the county. All money collected and given stays in Caithness, and pays for telephone calls, heat, light and insurance.
The organisation is happy to run a small outreach programme, speaking to local societies and schools by invitation. Its work is seen as being very much "under the radar", so many questions are usually asked at such events.
Caithness Samaritans is always pleased to welcome new volunteers and is happy to talk and answer questions with anyone who is curious about its work. The training programme offered is "thorough and encouraging, and also fun". The organisation stresses how it seeks volunteers who are just "ordinary people" and who are able to spare a few hours every week to come into the centre and answer calls. If you are interested in helping, you can email angmaymac@gmail.com for more information. A Samaritan will call you back if you wish to leave a number.
