Read this to find out why I've launched the “#Donate60 to Samaritans” initiative and how you can help:

Samaritans provide listening and messaging services for those going through an emotional crisis. We receive 3 million calls and 450,000 email and online chat messages every year and more than one in four of those who contact us will be experiencing suicidal thoughts.

Stratford & District Samaritans is one of 185 branches nationwide who help provide these services. We have 120 fully trained volunteers drawn from Kenilworth Leamington Spa, Shipston, Stratford, Warwick and surrounding areas. As a branch, we contribute around 20,000 hours of telephone support (4x the national average) each year.

I know from personal experience that a 60-minute conversation with a trained Samaritan can save a life, but we receive no government funding and through a combination of rising costs and financial pressures on those who have traditionally provided us with grants and donations, we have a projected deficit of £20K in our operating budget for 2024 (which is equivalent to 4,000 calls we won’t be able to answer if we don’t find a way to bridge that funding gap).

As a support volunteer and trustee of Stratford & District Samaritans, I’ll be turning 60 in September, and I have committed this landmark year in my life to raising the necessary funds so that we can maintain our contribution to the national cause.

So what my plan? Well, I’ve launched my #Donate60 fundraising campaign on JustGiving!

I’m looking for 334 intelligent, attractive, successful, well-connected and influential #GoodSamaritans (individuals, groups or organisations) to EITHER donate £60 OR commit to doing an extra hour (60 minutes, get it?) of paid work/service OR find and sell something(s) second-hand for c.£60 or more OR find some other tenuous link to the number 60 and donate whatever you raise doing “whatever you do” to my #Donate60 JustGiving page AND THEN to tell those in your personal and social network to encourage them to do the same, and hopefully set a chain reaction in motion!

Please join me and help make a difference by become a #GoodSamaritan in 2024 and donate your time or money, and then tell at least one other person what you’ve done and why (Social Media is good!!!) to encourage them to do the same.

Donating via my #Donate60 JustGiving page is simple, fast and totally secure - and your money goes directly to our charity bank account; saving us time and cutting our banking costs.

Thank you in anticipation for becoming part of the #Donate60 fundraising community and helping me to bridge our funding gap and make my 60th birthday year wish come true by New Years Eve 2024.

PS - I’ll be posting updates of my own fundraising exploits (including busking on the streets of my home town and performing at whatever venues will have me) on Facebook (Mark Pritchard-Jeffs), Instagram (MarkJeffsMusic), LinkedIn (Mark Pritchard-Jeffs), TikTok (MarkJeffsMusic) and via my professional (pritchard-jeffs.com) and music/art (markjeffs,com) websites. Please follow my journey and spread the word!

Please be a #GoodSamaritan and #Donate60 🙏👏👍👌💪