Samaritans desperate for new volunteers

VOLUNTEER numbers for the Samaritans are at their lowest since 1973, putting a huge strain on certain 24-hour services.

From a high of 2,500 volunteers in Ireland in 1989, the number has fallen to 1,700. Last year the emotional support charity had to deal with in excess of half a million calls to its telephone helpline.

Spokesperson Paul O'Hare said it was difficult to also respond to the 70,000-plus distress emails they receive.

The number of emails received has "gone up massively" since the service was introduced in 1995, Mr O'Hare said, jumping by about 20,000 every year.

"There is very high usage of our email service among young people and many of those who contact us are very, very suicidal. For some reason they seem more comfortable communicating via email rather than on the phone."

Mr O'Hare said it was vital to meet the needs of young people at a time when Irish suicide rates have quadrupled since 1990 among young men.

"The Samaritans definitely believe that large numbers of these suicides are due to unexpressed emotion, which is very, very dangerous. That's what we are there for to actively engage the people who contact us, to listen and to facilitate their expression of emotions we believe this gives them a chance to deal with the problem themselves."

Over the five-year period 1998-2002, 2,282 suicides were registered in the Republic of Ireland, more than 80% of them were men.

Approximately six out of every 10 calls are linked to relationship problems, Mr O'Hare said, including marital break-up, infidelity and domestic violence.

Bereavement, drug and alcohol addiction, sexuality issues, money worries and child/parent relationships are other topics.

Local branches are struggling to meet service demands, Mr O'Hare said.

"Our existing numbers are reaching the stage that if they fall any further, we will be in trouble. Our volunteers are very stretched at the moment and providing a 24-hour email service and local branch service is becoming a problem."

Mr O'Hare said the drop in volunteers was partly attributable to the time pressures of modern living and partly to the increasing number of charities seeking volunteers.

Aware, an organisation offering support to those affected by depression, is also seeking more volunteers, particularly in the run-up to Daisy Days, its three-day fundraising campaign which begins this Thursday.

A spokesperson for St Vincent de Paul said while people had less time now to do volunteer work, generally they responded well when a call was put out.

To cope with demand on its services, which is entirely dependent on voluntary support, the Samaritans have launched an "Extreme Listening" campaign.

The service is focusing on 18 to 24-year-olds, an age group which makes up just 3.1% of the current 17,600 volunteers in Ireland and Britain.

If you are interesting in becoming a volunteering, call 1890 20 00 91 (not a helpline number) or email [e-mail]

The helpline number is 1850 60 90 90 or e-mail [e-mail]. If you are deaf or hard of hearing use 1850 60 90 91.