Samaritans sees over 1,000 calls a day, an increase of 10% on last year, new report shows

Calls to Samaritans’ helpline rose by more than 10 per cent last year, with volunteers answering over 1,000 calls a day from people struggling to cope.

The number of calls rose by 45,000, with volunteers spending some 65,000 hours on the phone with callers, the Samaritans’ impact report for 2022 shows.

The report was launched on Wednesday by Minister for Community Development, Integration and Charities, Joe O’Brien, who described Samaritans volunteers as “the backbone of the charity”, who “are there for people 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even in the early hours of the morning”.

Samaritans is the only 24-hour emotional support helpline that covers the island of Ireland, with more than 2,000 volunteers in 21 branches nationwide. Three new satellite branches have also been opened or are scheduled to open this year.

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Executive director of Samaritans Ireland, Sarah O’Toole, told The Irish Times the increase in calls in 2022 showed came from a variety of reasons, including “people living with the lasting impact of Covid” and “a lot of uncertainty around the war in Ukraine”.

“On top of that, the cost of living crisis really developed,” she said.

“On the other side, people are feeling more comfortable reaching out. Mental health is talked about a bit more in public. People feel they have a trusted confidential space to go to with us”.

“In terms of our capacity to manage the increase in numbers, it is a struggle at times, but last year we recruited 300 new volunteers. We have some leaving now for various reasons, so we are always looking for new volunteers,” Ms O’Toole told The Irish Times.

The 2022 impact report showed the most frequently raised concerns related to mental health or illness (42 per cent), isolation and loneliness (34 per cent), family (30 per cent) and relationship problems (20 per cent).

A call needing emotional support lasted an average 26 minutes.

More than 18,000 calls were answered from inmates in Irish prisons, the report showed.

The report also showed that 4,500 calls were diverted to Samaritans from other helplines when they closed out of hours.

300 new volunteers completed training, according to the report. James Boyle, who has been volunteering with Samaritans for nine years now, said he began volunteering because of his own personal experience using the service when he was a teenager.

“I was struggling with mental health issues and anxiety and dealing with my sexuality. Back then I didn’t know who to turn to, I was so overwhelmed,” he told The Irish Times.

“Samaritans came to my school to talk about the services they provide. One night when I was struggling, I recalled that talk and I went on their website to use their email service. We kept a dialogue for several months,” he said.

Several years later, Boyle saw that Samaritans were looking for volunteers and wanted to “give back”.

There’s a “heightened awareness” of Samaritans now and the free phone number has “resulted in an opportunity for more people to contact us,” he said, encouraging anyone who needs help to reach out.

If you are affected by any of the issues in this story, please contact The Samaritans at 116 123 or email at jo@samaritans.ie