20,000 calls made to Telford Samaritans helpline

There are 91 Samaritan volunteers in Telford, who answered 19,855 calls for help throughout the year.

The figures have been released by the National Suicide Prevention charity to coincide with Volunteers' Week, an initiative which ends on Sunday.

Gwyneth Dale, director at Telford Samaritans, said: "I am so grateful to all of our volunteers at Telford.

"I want to thank them all for their commitment and hard work.

"It's great to see how they support people in ways that work well for our callers, on the phone, via email or visiting us in branch.

"We know that people who are struggling, benefit from having a real person to connect with and someone who is trained to listen to them. Samaritans wouldn't exist without the dedication of our volunteers.

"As well as listening on the helpline, there are lots of ways people can get involved with Samaritans, whether it's fundraising, marketing, helping with admin or IT, or offering other valuable skills.

"We are always looking for new volunteers, so get in touch if interested."

Overall there are 21,007 volunteers in the UK and Republic of Ireland, who responded to 5,331,295 calls for help.

Volunteers from Telford are also involved in outreach work, for example giving talks in schools, colleges and workplaces.

They also run a "listener scheme" with local prisons where they select, train and support prisoners to offer confidential, emotional support to other inmates.

Volunteers are ordinary people, who dedicate time every week to provide a safe space for anyone struggling to cope with whatever life has thrown at them.

Brian Allaway, who is a volunteer in Telford, said: "We are ordinary people from all walks of life who provide a 24-hour listening service for people who are going through emotional difficulties and who may be feeling suicidal.

"We listen attentively, unhurriedly and at length. You have to learn not to advise criticise or judge, and the Samaritans' vision is that fewer people die by suicide."