Samaritans (1/4) By Michelle Dee

(1/4), (2/4), (3/4), (4/4).

Late 2003 Cilla wrote an article about the invaluable work done by the local branch of the Samaritans. The piece called, A Friend In Need , featured the then manager of the Hull branch Wendy.

Since the article was written a new director, Edward, has been appointed and along with him have come some changes to the service. These changes will have both a local and national effect on how the service is viewed and run.

The most important of these changes is the centralization of the service with particular consideration to working practices and procedures. It is important to ensure there is complete consistency across the 203 branches nationwide. This is done so that the same service can be delivered across the country. Due to dropping numbers of volunteers, a caller may ring up and speak to someone who is not local to his or her immediate area. If that caller rings a number of times over a short period, problems could arise if the response they got was not a uniform one.

To enable this uniform response at a national level, policy meetings are held at Samaritans Headquarters in Ewell, Surrey. During these meetings, which are heavily attended, discussion takes place as to the best way to provide the service. The policies agreed upon are then passed down to the branches, which then pass on the information to their volunteers. The working practices are discussed and changes are made; in particular recent changes have been made to the training of volunteers.

A completely new training course has been devised that is standardized and comprehensive. The course aims to incorporate different aspects of working practice from all regional branches. After some reluctance this course is now being implemented throughout the country.

The system is to be organised in such a way to avoid being seen as top-heavy. Changes at the top are needed to streamline the decision making process. This said, the communication down the chain of command is a two-way stream; all these changes are discussed within the branches at regular committee meetings, and then sent back up the chain. This is vital so Head office receive the feedback needed to see how the changes are being implemented and their effectiveness.

The meetings, mentioned earlier, are attended by volunteers: in fact within the whole of the organization there are very few paid employees. It is also important to realise that the Samaritans exist purely on donations, and receive no funding from Government, local council, or Health services. To cope with the 21,000 calls the Hull branch received last year and the 4.8 million calls nationally, Samaritans have to recruit new volunteers to cope with society's needs.

The local branch has a paid employee called Martin, this has been possible through the Barclays Community Placement Scheme, which is used to help charitable organisations utilise the skills that would otherwise be lost, after redundancy by larger organizations. Martin appears to be heavily involved in many aspects of the service; he has taken on the difficult task of persuading members of the community to give up their time to volunteer as a listener.

This could mean a commitment of at least three to four hours each week and night work. What kinds of people volunteer to listen to those facing emotional distress?

Over the years Samaritans have had something of an image problem and enduring myths attached to their organisation. It is thought by many to be staffed by retired or semi retired persons with a little bit of time on their hands, in short, the twin-set and pearls brigade. This misnomer couldn't be further from the truth. The local branch has a diverse volunteer group with ages ranging from 24 to 85 years.

Continued ...next page(2/4),

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