The Parish Magazine July and August 2021

feature — 2
It began with a vicar who was
willing to listen on his
telephone — now there
are 20,000 listeners!
'In an emergency the citizen turns to the telephone
and dials 999. There ought to be an emergency number
for suicidal people, I thought.' So said Chad Varah in
the summer of 1953. His thought led to the founding
of Samaritans, the crisis telephone service for anyone
contemplating suicide.
Chad's lowly stipend was barely enough to pay his
secretary, so this meant he had to subsidise his income
by sitting up into the early hours of the morning drawing
cartoons and writing scripts. Then he was offered the
incumbency of St Stephen's Church in the City of London.
Now he could spend the early hours doing something about
his idea for an emergency number for people considering
suicide. On 2 November 1953 he took his first call and
Samaritans was born!
Like many of today's social services, hospitals, schools
and adoption agencies, that were originally started by
Christians, Samaritans has become an integral part of daily
life, not just for Christians, but for everyone whatever their
faith — or none. They are always there, if you need them.
116 123
Although Chad was a little sceptical about passing his
listening ear on to volunteers, he soon discovered they
were often better equipped than him to help. Today there
are over 20,000 listening volunteers in 201 branches in the
UK and the Republic of Ireland. Every day, they respond to
about 10,000 calls for help.
Chad died in Basingstoke in 2007 and left behind him a
charitable organisation that today still plays a vital role in
helping suicidal people who can contact volunteer listeners,
anonymously, and free of charge from any landline or
mobile phone. The Samaritans' number, 116 123, will not
appear on the caller's phone bill.
According to Felicity Varah, Chad's daughter: 'The
challenge now is to look to the future. As the way
people choose to communicate changes over time, we
need to continue to evolve, combining technology with
compassion, to reach people who still so desperately need
our help.'
To enable this, Samaritans is investing in new
communications technology such as an instant messaging
service, all of which, of course, needs to be financed from
donations.
JULY AWARENESS MONTH
To raise awareness of Samaritans and the work they
do, each year they run a month long campaign in July.
This year the theme is 'Talk to Us. They are asking people
to give their time for 60 seconds, creating the UK’s largest
conversation. Samaritans’ branches up and down the
The Parish Magazine - July/August 2021 17
Chad Varah who founded Samaritans in 1953
samaritans.org
country will be popping up in local towns and cities to
let people know that they are there, round the clock and
that they provide a safe space for them to talk and be
themselves.
Throughout July, Samaritans is running several social
media campaigns encouraging support for the work they
do. People up and down the country can get involved by
simply texting ‘SUPPORT’ to 70080 to make a £4 donation
which is the cost to the charity of answering one call for
help.
A focus for the awareness month will be the 'Big Listen
Day' on 24 July which aims to encourage us all to become
better listeners.
READING SAMARITANS
The nearest Samaritans' branch to our parish is in
Reading where there are 150 dedicated volunteers who
all play a vital part in supporting callers — whether
by phone, text, email, in person at a local branch or at
community events across Berkshire.
Last year Reading Samaritans answered more than
40,000 calls. If you think you can help them to continue
Chad's dream of being there for others in a crisis, a good
starting place is to visit their website at:
https://www.samaritans.org/support-us/volunteer/
Anyone can contact Samaritans FREE any time
from any phone on 116 123,
even a mobile without credit.
This number won’t show up on your phone bill.
Or email: jo@samaritans.org
Or visit http://www.samaritans.org