Someone who is suicidal, despairing or in distress contacts Samaritans every six seconds, and every single day around 16 people decide to end their own life across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Public Health England estimates that every suicide carries an economic cost of £1.6 million. Cambridge Samaritans, one of the oldest and largest Samaritan branches in the country, has been serving people in Cambridge and in the wider community for over 50 years.
We provide emotional support local and nationally to callers to alleviate their feelings of despair and distress, and therefore reduce the likelihood of them taking their own life. Samaritans are here 24/7; last year alone our branch took over 32,000 calls, answered nearly 4,000 written contacts, and saw nearly 200 visitors at our Centre. We spent over 9,000 hours on the phone.
We are entirely run and managed by 170 unpaid volunteers, who not only take calls but also train new Samaritans, provide internal support, and manage branch administration. Cambridge Samaritans works intensively with local organisations including Cambridge Wintercomfort, Littlehey Prison, Network Rail, and local schools, colleges and community groups.
Cambridge Samaritans needs your support to train new volunteers, support existing ones, maintain our facilities, and develop our premises to expand our capacity - at present can’t respond to all the people who contact us for support.
