Samaritans’ volunteers from across the North of England will be heading to their local train stations on Friday 24 July to mark Talk to Us, the charity’s annual awareness campaign.
Volunteers from the charity will have a presence at 28 railway stations to highlight to commuters the value of talking through problems when life gets tough, and Samaritans’ round the clock service, for anyone struggling to cope.*
The events have the backing of train operator Northern Rail, whose staff will be welcoming Samaritans volunteers into their stations during the morning rush hour. Network Rail and train operators First TransPennine Express and Virgin Trains are also supporting events at their stations.
Bob Howe, Regional Marketing Officer for Samaritans in Yorkshire & Humberside region said: “Raising awareness of our service to the travelling public in this way is really important, and having the opportunity to work in partnership with Northern Rail across their network is really inspiring. We want people to recognise the value of talking to us, about any issues that may be troubling them. People can get in touch with Samaritans’ service by phone, email and text, as well as visiting a branch to speak to a volunteer face to face. We are here round the clock, every single day of the year.”
Lucy Kitching from Northern Rail, who has helped co-ordinate the events with Samaritans, said: “Northern Rail is proud to support Samaritans on 24 July with its national Talk to us events, as we did last year. We are keen to work with Samaritans to encourage the local communities that we both serve to think about their emotional health and wellbeing, as well as look out for the wellbeing of others”.
Samaritans answers more than five million calls for help a year from people of all ages, backgrounds and circumstances. The charity’s 21,200 volunteers deliver its service at 201 branches across the UK and Republic of Ireland.
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
