I interviewed Swindon and District Samaritans Director and Listening Volunteer Darren Tee and Listening and Publicity Volunteer Maggie Gill, about their roles within Samaritans.

Darren has worked for Samaritans for 8 years, 2 of those as Director and 6 of those as a Listening Volunteer, Maggie is in her second stint of Volunteering for about 9 years and had a break for around 10 years then re-joined 3 years ago.

Samaritans provide a safe space for people to come and speak to another human being, it’s 100% confidential for people to talk to Samaritans and available 24-7 and all the volunteers are trained to the same level.

“Samaritans will try to walk alongside you and will try to understand what you’re going through”

You can talk to Samaritans about absolutely anything from issues at home to self-harm and other “Taboo” subjects, there may not be things that are wrong, sometimes it may be there’s nothing wrong but you just want someone to talk to through speaking with a Samaritan it may start to unlock what’s really going on.

“We liken it to a bucket – you keep chucking things into said bucket until it overflows, you need a tap on the bucket to let out the stresses.”

Maggie found Samaritans through the company she used to work for and found that it linked with something that she dealt with during her childhood.

For Darren, he felt that through College and University he was there for people, and after being unemployed for a few months he wanted to do something meaningful. He went through the necessary training and became a Listening Volunteer.

“It’s a Privilege that people feel able to pick up the phone and share things they may not be able to share in day to day life […] It’s about listening to somebody and asking questions you wouldn’t usually ask”

When someone calls Samaritans, they will answer with “Samaritans, can I Help?” and then they leave it to the caller to let them know what’s up.

They run info events every month and they offer 9 weeks of training which is really in depth and really shows you how you can help, they also go on to do a role play showing you how to listen.

“Give yourself a break, it is okay to not be okay” “Samaritans are there to support, please don’t do it alone”

You can do more by simply asking friends, family members and co-workers

“How are you?”

Samaritans are also working on the Men’s Mental Health Swindon Campaign and you can read more about that on www.mmhswindon.co.uk and on www.facebook.com/mmhswindon

You can contact Samaritans by Email: jo@Samaritans.org.uk Call: 116 123(This won’t appear on your phone bill) Alternatively, you can visit Swindon and District Samaritans at: 6 Curtis Street Swindon SN1 5JU