The Samaritans celebrate 50th anniversary of suicide prevention with a big party at The Rivoli Ballroom

BY JAMES TWOMEY
james@slpmedia.co.uk

A year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of suicide prevention charity, Samaritans, culminated in a big party last Friday.

The charity is one of the biggest in the UK, and focusses on providing emotional support to anyone in distress and suicide prevention.

The Lewisham, Greenwich and Southwark branch members based in New Cross enjoyed their 50th anniversary at The Rivoli ballroom in Brockley, and reflected on the history of the charity as well as looking ahead at the future.

Community outreach manager, and the only paid staff member, Precious Jeffers, who started in 2011, said: “You have to be incredibly empathetic, open, non-judgemental.

“I think the greatest difference between now and 50 years ago is that there is a greater emphasis on encouraging people to talk before a crisis.

“It is valid to talk about small things and important for the individual to know that.

“The Samaritans used to be known as “call if you are feeling suicidal,” but we want people to call way before it gets to that point.”

Listening volunteer, vice director Jean Gilardi, from Crofton Park, has been at the branch for 10 years.

She said: “It’s something I always wanted to do, I knew someone many years ago who died by suicide.”

Jean worked overseas for medical charity the Red Cross in conflict areas such as Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, before joining the Samaritans. She said the work “makes you feel good but you hardly do anything, just listen.”

She added: “Let them talk it through themselves, people don’t always get the chance to be listened to in life.

“It’s a nice branch. We do social things all the time. I have met a wide variety of people I would have never met without the Samaritans.”

Graham, 72, from Nunhead, is a listening volunteer and a former Lambeth primary school teacher.
This is his second Samaritans stint after having volunteered in 1978-82. He has been volunteering in Lewisham since 2017.

He said: “It’s unequivocally a good thing to do. There’s no downside for the callers. Graham believes that since his first time volunteering, conversation around mental health has changed enormously.

“There has been a huge culture shift. Men now find it much easier to open up about difficulties and challenges they face,” said Graham. “There is still the swagger and macho defensiveness and issues of mental health and sexuality.

“There is a crisis over the role of men and how they ought to be.

“Moving forward, the Samaritans’ role is becoming more and more important. There is a perfect storm coming up. The economy. Fear in young people over climate change. Insecurity around jobs.

“I could have easily been a caller myself. Everyone has honestly had a time in their lives when they needed to talk to someone they don’t know.”

Another volunteer, Rosie Campbell, who lives in Herne Hill, said the number of calls have increased and the types of calls have increased in severity, which she believes is a direct result of cuts to local mental health services.

“Things that weren’t coming in Samaritans’ direction before are now coming our way,” said Rosie.

“People who have big clinical problems are calling us asking us about diagnosed problems but are in a three-month queue for therapy. Psychotic people call and it’s very challenging as we’re not qualified.”

Despite Samaritans’ history and stature as a charity, it still needs volunteers and desperately needs funding to keep going.

Ms Campbell said: “We raise lots of money ourselves in bits and bobs. We don’t get funds from elsewhere and we operate at hand-to-mouth costs. The last five years we haven’t been able to afford a fundraiser.

“There is a sense of giving back to the community. It’s not just any old Samaritans branch. We are for this part of South London and we are very responsive to local needs.”

If you would like to donate to the Samaritans you can do so by visiting the website at samaritans.org

If you need someone to speak to, there are Samaritans listeners waiting to receive your call 24-hours-a-day on 116 123.