Samaritans looking at new ways to reach out to people

The Samaritans are developing ways of reaching out to people with emotional distress using mobile phone text support, e-mail listening services and support desks at concerts and festivals.

The group says the new methods are aimed at developing ways of better connecting with people in a rapidly-changing environment. Demand for support is strong, with the service receiving around 300,000 contacts each year. Some 15 per cent of these are from callers who said they were suicidal.

Volunteers met at the weekend at a conference in Galway to reflect on their work and to consider how the organisation is helping people. "While this challenge is not new to Samaritans, it is important that a discussion on the relevance of Samaritans in society is maintained," said Gerard O'Connor, director of Galway Samaritans, which hosted the conference.

He said that while people were increasingly "connected" using mobile phones, e-mail and internet, isolation at a personal level was still very prevalent and this could lead to increased risk of emotional distress and suicide.

The phone (1850-609090) remains the main way the Samaritans supports callers in distress, although new ways of making contact are being developed. Most Samaritan branches offer an email listening service (jo@samaritans.org), while phone texting services are being evaluated in some branches.

Volunteers are regularly attending concerts and festivals at which they reach out directly to people who can be all alone in a crowd. They work closely with schools, presenting students with information on where to get help should they find themselves in distress and alone.

Branches near prisons have also started to work closely with prison staff to train prisoners to act as Samaritan-like listeners who can be available to other prisoners.

However, economic growth means the group is finding it more challenging to recruit and retain the 2,000 or so volunteers it says it needs to keep its service operating on a 24-hour basis.