Samaritans received a call every 64 seconds last year

In 2021, some of the primary concerns of calls related to mental health or illness, family, isolation, relationship problems, and Covid.

Samaritans has said it is "needed more than ever" after its latest impact report showed it fielded a call for help every 64 seconds last year, with a fifth of calls relating to fears over the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Samaritans Impact Report for 2021 showed the charity answered 1,300 calls for help a day. In total it dealt with almost 471,000 phone calls — of which 115,000 were in the North — and 18,645 emails, with one-in-five calls linked to fears over Covid-19.

Volunteers answered a call every 64 seconds, with volunteers spending, on average, 30 minutes on each call. Part of that was an initiative whereby six different helplines continued to divert to Samaritans in Ireland when their lines closed after hours — Aware, LGBT Ireland, Family Carers, Niteline, GROW and ALONE.

423 listening hours

According to the report, volunteers answered 1,705 dialogue calls from these agencies, offering 423 listening hours to people who may otherwise not have had someone to talk to. In addition, Samaritans also provide 24-hour freephone access to its helpline for Irish people in United Arab Emirates, China, Hong Kong, Poland, Canada, and Australia, with callers from outside Ireland receiving nine hours of support, of which six hours’ support were offered to 18 calls from Poland, and 2.5 hours’ support offered to seven calls from UAE.

The report found that Wednesday was the busiest day of the week for Samaritans, with 6pm to midnight the busiest time of the day, when a third of calls are answered.

According to the report: "When people contact Samaritans for emotional support, they often mention several concerns during a call. In 2021, some of the primary concerns related to: mental health or illness, family, isolation and loneliness, relationship problems, physical health/illness and Covid."

Recruitment

The charity also said it had managed to navigate the problems caused by the pandemic when it came to recruitment. "Despite the ongoing restrictions, almost 450 potential volunteers started their training journey with Samaritans during 2021," it said. "Of those, 150 new volunteers successfully completed the course and were answering the helpline and emails before the end of December with the remainder joining in early 2022."

It also said it had seen a rise in the number of contacts made to its Listener programme for inmates of prisons. According to the report: "We recorded 1,074 Listener contacts in 13 prisons. Samaritans volunteers supported 73 Listeners, with many of the 163 support meetings facilitated via video link.

"Calls to Samaritans’ freephone helpline number from inmates rose to 19,634 due to restrictions (isolation, separation, lack of visits) and following the introduction of in-cell telephony in some prisons."

Covid-19 impact

Executive Director for Samaritans Ireland, Niall Mulligan said the pandemic had a huge impact on people.

“During the year, one in five calls for help to Samaritans was from someone worried about the impact of the pandemic, and over a third of callers felt isolated or lonely. Others faced new anxieties as restrictions were lifted,” he said.

The report was launched this morning by Minister for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler, who said: "The scope of Samaritans work in this report clearly shows the support it had given to some of the most marginalised in society, through training, awareness and emotional support."

* samaritans.ie / call freephone helpline number 116 123

- If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please click here for a list of support services.