You help us be there round the clock
Your Autumn 2018 newsletter P3
Open all hours‌ the Big Listen!
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This is me...
Contents Open all hours… the Big Listen!
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Claire’s listening experience
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Remember, remember… our forces’ mental health
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Healthy minds at work
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This is me
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Together we can prevent suicide
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Missing people
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A parliamentary voice
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One call wasn’t enough
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Talking shop
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Christmas raffle
Open all hours... The Big Listen!
2018 Autumn
O
n 24 July, our Big Listen event saw Samaritans staff, volunteers and celebrities talking to rail travellers at stations up and down the country about the benefits of listening. The Big Listen is held on this date as it represents the 24 hours a day, 7 days a week that Samaritans is open to support anyone struggling to cope. This year, 105 branches took part with over 119 station events held all around the UK.
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Healthy minds at wo
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We enjoyed many conversations with the travelling public and our SHUSH listening tips were widely shared with passers-by. We also appeared on BBC Breakfast and TV show Lorraine, reaching millions of households.
Read your autumn newsletter online at samaritans.org/autumnnews If you'd like to share your story to help encourage others to talk and increase awareness of Samaritans' work, please get in touch with us on:
03709 00 00 32
supportercare@samaritans.org
experience p4
We’re talkin g sh
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Background Illustration © shutterstock.com
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The Big Listen raises awareness of the importance of listening and Samaritans. Suicide is preventable, not inevitable, and our volunteers are there for anyone who feels like they’ve nowhere else to turn. Many of us lead busy lives, but if we can find the time to stop and listen to a friend or family member – who simply needs someone to talk to – it really could make a difference to their day, or even change their life.
521,000 views of the campaign video* We reached 3.7m people via social media *To view, visit samaritans.org/autumnnews Listening on route
Claire’s listening
Become a listening volunteer
t more If you’d like to find ou what d an ng about our traini tening lis s an rit becoming a Sama uch to in t volunteer means, ge ritans.org volunteering@sama (UK) 03705 62 72 82
In partnership with
Claire’s listening experience M
eet Claire, a Samaritans listening volunteer in our Belfast branch. She lives outside Belfast with her wife Sharon and rescue Beagle, Cash. She tells us her story in support of The Big Listen.
Claire runs a personal training business and it was her interest in a six-day, 251 km ultramarathon in the Sahara Desert that brought her to us. She’s always wanted to take part in the Marathon Des Sables – she’d run marathons before but never an ultra!
While Claire raised an impressive £3,600 for Belfast Samaritans, she had little knowledge of what Samaritans was all about. So, the Belfast branch invited her in to meet everyone and have a cuppa.
Remember, remember… our forces’ mental health
The Branch Director chatted to Claire about the possibility of being a volunteer, but Claire didn’t feel she was a good enough listener and thought she wouldn’t know what to say to people. Two months later, she applied to be a listening volunteer and has never looked back.
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“Being a Samaritans volunteer has made me a better listener. It’s a real privilege to be there for anyone who needs support. We don’t give advice and we don’t tell you what to do – for me, this is one of the biggest reasons why Samaritans works.” If you’d like to join us as a listening volunteer, find out more at samaritans.org/volunteer
#1 Show you care* #2 Have patience #3 Use open questions #4 Say it back #5 Have courage
Claire and
Cash
amaritans has partnered with the military to launch a Pocket Guide* for men and women serving in the armed forces, to support their wellbeing and mental health.
The Guide provides advice on how to spot someone who is struggling, understand possible causes and how to support colleagues in need. This could include direct help or assisting them in finding external or internal support. Where appropriate, there’s also guidance on reporting any concerns. This Guide is one of a number of tools being created for serving personnel, reservists, veterans and their families,
as Samaritans launches different elements of its Military (support) Programme. Up to 200,000 copies of the Pocket Guide – developed with the Ministry of Defence – are being given out to personnel serving in the armed forces. It’s designed for those on operations and postings, where there’s no access to computers or mobile phones, but there’s also an online version. Other elements of the Military Programme, such as live webchat and specialist training, are being developed too. And Samaritans branches are taking part in a pilot project with the charity Veterans Outreach Support (VOS), which involves volunteers attending VOS events to raise awareness of its services.
“While military mental health continues to be slightly better than the general population, we’re committed to ensuring that those who need help are able to get the support they need. This Guide, alongside our 24-hour mental health helpline, will be invaluable in helping our people to help each other.” Tobias Ellwood , Minister for Defence, People and Veterans
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*SHUSH listening tips
*Pocket Guide title: Suicide prevention and peer support in the Armed Forces.
Autumn 2018
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Did you know that 3 out of 5 people have experienced mental health issues due to work – with only 1 in 10 telling their manager?1 We’re on a mission to create happier, healthier workplaces, which is why we’ve teamed up with the Lord Mayor’s Appeal to launch a ground-breaking emotional support programme, Wellbeing in the City, for UK workers. The training teaches you the skills to manage your own emotional health – and look out for others, before they reach crisis point. We’ve designed two interactive online programmes specifically for office workers. These focus on listening skills and signs that someone may be struggling to cope. The training takes around 90 minutes to complete but it can be accessed in shorter
bursts of 10 minutes or less, so it fits around busy lives. Wellbeing in the City is part of an existing mental health campaign called ‘This is me’. The aim is to help create more open and supportive working environments, where people feel listened to. Since its launch in April, thousands of people have signed up and an impressive 93 percent say it’s helped them recognise emotional distress in others. One person who completed the programme said: “I believe the content could genuinely change – and possibly save – lives.”
Image © shutterstock.com
Healthy minds at work
This is me
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eet Ben Higgin, a partner at PwC – a global organisation that’s supporting staff through Wellbeing in the City.
“In 2007, I was probably one of the last people you’d have thought would be talking about mental health. My career Ben Higgin was on track, I’d been promoted quickly and I was settled in London. In my own head, I thought everything was completely “The relief of it just being out there was huge. Anne called me, we talked about it normal, but it wasn’t. I’d had a difficult and I started to think about what I could experience coming out as gay and there was a part of me that wasn’t ready to take do to make things better. I got myself a support network and started being honest that on at work. with people. “When the opportunity came to move to Having someone listen can make the Hong Kong, I left to start a job I’d never world of difference. That prompted me to done before in a place I hadn’t visited. Within a month or so, I realised I’d made become a Samaritan and learn to do what a mistake. I wasn’t settling into the work Anne had done for me – support people in environment. I was taking days off sick crisis or distress.” because I just couldn’t face going into the office. “Back home on my annual visit, I went to see Anne, the partner sponsoring my secondment, and told her I was finding it hard. But I still didn’t tell her everything. Anne convinced me to give it another go.
1. Business in the Community (2017) Mental Health at Work Report 2017. London: Business in the Community.
If you’d like to sign up to Wellbeing in the City as an individual or organisation, please visit us at samaritans.org/autumnnews 7
“I realised, when I got back, what Anne had actually done for me. She’d listened to me. She’d given me permission to talk about anything. I wrote to her, saying: ‘I’m in a relationship with someone in London, there were days when I didn’t speak to anyone and I didn’t really know how to make friends and be myself.’
Find out more about becoming a volunteer volu nteering@sa m
aritans.org
samaritans.o
rg/volunteer
Autumn 2018
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Together we can prevent suicide E
ach year, World Suicide Prevention Day is marked on 10 September. It’s a focal point in our calendar, when organisations like the National Suicide Prevention Alliance (NSPA) raise awareness about suicide through the media.
The NSPA is an alliance of over 250 public, private and voluntary organisations and individuals in England. All member organisations, Samaritans included, focus on suicide prevention, and agree to take action to reduce suicide and support those affected by it. On World Suicide Prevention Day 2018, NSPA members led with the powerful message ‘Working together to prevent suicide’. The NSPA used Twitter to showcase how all the members work in partnership to prevent suicide.
Reaching out to missing adults at risk of suicide
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n the UK, almost 15 adults are reported missing every hour. Research shows that one in 20 adults who go missing will do so with the intention to take their own life, which is why Samaritans is working in partnership with the charity Missing People to offer a lifeline to more vulnerable missing adults. In the run up to World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) on 10 September, we highlighted examples of how Samaritans branches and regions are working together with other organisations to prevent suicide across the UK and Ireland.
Image © ingimage.com
National Suicide Prevention Alliance
Following a successful pilot over the last few years, 17 Samaritans branches are now involved in supporting a partnership with the charity Missing People – another member of the National Suicide Prevention Alliance – to help reach more missing people who are at greater risk of suicide or self-harm. Building on an existing text scheme, the Suicide Risk TextSafe® system operated by Missing People enables the charity to send the missing person a supportive text message. Using a mobile number provided by police, the text includes information about contacting Samaritans and Missing People’s own 24/7 helpline for support.
James Waghorn, Samaritans Functional Lead for Partnerships, said:
Individuals can join the NSPA too. Sign up today and help work together to prevent suicide samaritans.org/autumnnews 9
“Reaching out proactively in this way lets the missing person know that they do have options, that people care for their safety and that Samaritans is here to help offer them confidential emotional support, whatever they may be going through.” Autumn 2018
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A parliamentary voice L
iz Twist MP combines her role as Member of Parliament for Blaydon with that of a Samaritans listening volunteer. She’s also Vice chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention. In Liz’s maiden speech to Parliament last year, she shared her own experience of being bereaved by the suicide of her husband.
We spoke to Liz about volunteering at the Tyneside branch, in Newcastle, to find out how she juggles her political life with volunteering. What drives you to volunteer at Samaritans? Q
It’s that feeling that you make a difference to people’s lives that makes it so rewarding. That you’ve helped someone and given them the space to explore their own feelings, without judgment. I think Samaritans’ training has been absolutely invaluable in helping me ‘listen thoughtfully’, about how I can best help people to express themselves.
What made you decide to share your own experience of suicide in Parliament? Q
I thought very carefully about mentioning it in my maiden speech, but I think it’s important we talk more about suicide. If we can raise the profile and prevent people dying by suicide, that’s got to be worthwhile.
You spoke out recently in the House of Commons about NICE’s* draft guidelines for preventing suicide during Samaritans’ The Big Listen campaign. Why did you speak out at this point? Q
I think it’s important to draw attention to what Samaritans are doing across the country and to highlight the need for action to prevent suicides – and asking the question on 24/7 seemed very appropriate.
What exactly is the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Suicide and Self-Harm and how does it work? Q
(The group) has been going from well before my time. It’s where MPs and peers from across the political spectrum work together to raise issues around suicide and self-harm with ministers, senior officials, the Department of Health and frankly, with anyone else who will listen!
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It’s an opportunity for us to work a bit more constructively, a bit more thoughtfully, and to have a more discursive way of talking about things than the side of Parliament that makes it onto TV. Q Would you encourage Samaritans’ supporters to write to their local councils about self-harm?
Samaritans' campaigns really make a difference. If you contact your MP and your local authority about something, people do take notice. One person on their own has impact, but people working together have a great deal more – it amplifies the issue. Anything that people can do to contact their local authority to say, “What are you doing about a suicide prevention strategy?” puts it under the spotlight. *The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
Liz’s voice in parliament
Lobby your local MP to make sure self-harm is addressed in their Suicide Prevention Policy. Take action today. samaritans.org/autumnnews 11
Autumn 2018
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Bre w
Monday #BrewMonda y
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#Bre wM
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Have a brew save lives Sign up at samaritans.org/brewmonday
Help beat the January blues: get together with friends, family or colleagues on 21 January 2019, have a brew and raise vital funds to help save lives. 13
Regular support makes all the difference.
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hen someone calls Samaritans, it isn’t always for the first time. In fact, one in every three calls is from somebody who’s used our service before*. Through ringing Samaritans more than once, Lucy† developed her own coping mechanisms to move forward with her life. “ I’ve suffered from depression on and off since I was 16. I don't think there was one particular event – more like a number of occasions where I just felt unable to cope. I called Samaritans a few times and used the text service as well. “ I just wanted to talk to someone who would listen to me without judging me, telling me what to do or worrying about me. I felt like there was so much negativity and pain in me and I had to get it out.
Samaritans offers a safe place to say how you feel and talk through options without being told what to do. It might not ever really go away but you can learn to live with it and get through it. You don't have to feel alone with what you're feeling.” Though just over half our callers, each month, are first-time callers*, Samaritans is here for people like Lucy – for whom one call isn’t enough. A warm thanks to all our supporters who give to Samaritans on a regular basis, as it can make a meaningful difference to someone who needs us more than once.
Image © shutterstock.com
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For Lucy, one call wasn’t enough
“ It helped me to be able to say anything that was on my mind without it coming back to me a few days later as it would with friends or family. Sometimes I would be crying and hysterical but the way they spoke helped me to calm down. *Samaritans helpline statistics 2017. †Lucy’s name has been changed.
Autumn 2018
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We’re talking shop I
f you haven’t seen one of our shops on the high street, you may not be aware that we have 45 – as many as the John Lewis Partnership. Recently, our shops were very fortunate to have had some help from John Lewis staff, who shared their expertise with us.
Through the Golden Jubilee Trust programme at John Lewis, 18 members of staff took part in 10-week secondments with Samaritans. The team got stuck in – working alongside volunteers, serving customers and even making the odd brew or two. Crucially, they helped identify and share best practice too, leading shop makeovers and training volunteers in great customer service. They also offered advice on developing our shop network and starting to sell merchandise online. Before they left, the team handed over best practice toolkits on everything from training shop volunteers to finding ways of generating more income. Sarah Ball, Samaritans’ Head of Community and Events Fundraising, says: “We’re grateful to our team of John Lewis Partners. Worldclass retail expertise like this can help us get the very best out of our shops.”
If you’ve seen a Samaritans shop in your area, do drop in. You never know what you may find! 15
CHRISTMAS RAFFLE 2018 It’s never too early to be thinking about Christmas, and when £5,000 is up for grabs (plus 12 other prizes), it would be silly not to get in the festive spirit!
Have yourself a Merry Christmas – play the raffle today for just £1 per ticket You may have received a raffle pack in the post – but you can also play online today by visiting samaritans.org/raffle By playing the raffle, you could help someone have somewhere to turn to this Christmas. Just 5 tickets (£5!) could answer a call for help.
Our winner from 2017 said this: “We suddenly lost our loved Golden Retriever just before winning, so months later we spent some of the money on our new Retriever, Isla Sam; ‘Sam’ being a small tribute to my winnings. It goes to show if I can win, anyone can!” – Jane
Just
£1
per ticke
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Raffle Close: Monday 3 December Draw Date: Tuesday 18 December
Play online today at
samaritans.org/raffle
If you would like more tickets, please contact
0370 034 0789 Autumn 2018
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Samaritans listening tips
S.H.U.S.H.
1. Show you care
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2. Have patience
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3. Use open questions
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4. Say it back
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5. Have courage
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Focus on the other person, make eye contact, put away your phone
It may take time and several attempts before a person is ready to open up
That need more than a yes/no answer, and follow up eg ‘Tell me more’
To check you’ve understood, but don’t interrupt or offer a solution
Don’t be put off by a negative response and, most importantly, don’t feel you have to fill a silence
Samaritans is a charity registered in England and Wales (219432) and in Scotland (SC040604) Samaritans, The Upper Mill, Kingston Road, EWELL KT17 2AF