Samaritans
Total raised for Samaritans this year
Donite is proud to be supporting Samaritans
Samaritans set up their first phone line in 1983.
Samaritans are now contacted every six seconds, that’s 10 times a minute someone picks up the phone, sends an email, or walks into a drop in centre to be greeted and supported by over 25,000 volunteers.
Learn more about Samaritans
Samaritans was founded in 1953 by a vicar in London called Chad Varah who wanted a way for people in distress to get help even if they had no-one they knew to turn to. He was moved by the suicide of a 14 year old girl, who had no-one to talk to when she got her first period. She believed it was a sexually transmitted disease and took her own life.
He said: ” I might have dedicated myself to suicide prevention then and there, providing a network of people you could ‘ask’ about anything, however embarassing, but it didn’t come to that until later.”
Once it was established, through links with national newspapers Chad managed to garner plenty of publicity, with the Daily Mirror coining the phrase “telephone a good samaritan”. This stuck even through Samaritans is not a religious organisation.
The second centre was opened in Edinburgh, and there are now 201 drop in centres located around the UK.
Samaritans still maintains Chad Varah’s guiding principles of providing confidential, non-judgemental support.
Charity Number: 219431
Address: Samaritans, The Upper Mill, Kingston Road, Ewell, Surrey KT17 2AF
Telephone: 02083948300
Email: admin@samaritans.rog
Social Media Links:
Email: admin@samaritans.rog
Date Charity Founded: 02/11/1953