Samaritans seeking good listeners

THE Samaritans have had a branch in Clare for almost 30 years and they offer confidential emotional support to the public, from their base on the Kilrush Road in Ennis.

The local branch of the charity is about to recruit new volunteers and will be holding information/selection meetings at the Old Ground Hotel on September 8 and 10. Branch director, Gerry Dobbin said becoming a Samaritans volunteer allows a person to develop new and valuable personal skills.
“Being a volunteer with the Samaritans is all about listening and when people join they take part in a very comprehensive training programme that will give them the skills to listen to people more fully and to offer support to people who are going through very difficult times,” he said.
The Samaritans aim to offer confidential emotional support to people who are experiencing feelings of distress and despair, including feelings that may lead to suicide. This is done through listening and giving people an opportunity to talk about their problems.
“It’s amazing how much having the chance to talk about how you are feeling can help and how talking about concerns can help you to see a way forward. Our volunteers never give callers advice but we give them space to talk about how they feel and the problems that they are facing,” says Gerry.
He said there are a few essential traits for volunteers. “Our volunteers come from every walk of life and background but it’s important that potential volunteers would have some aptitude for listening and it’s also important that they aren’t judgemental because our volunteers don’t make judgements on callers, or on what callers tell them.”
Last year the Clare and Ennis Samaritans received 31,690 contacts, the majority of them by phone but some were via email and some were visitors to the branch. The amount of contacts has increased significantly over the last few years, with 28,034 contacts in 2008 and 29,469 in 2009.
The fall-out from the recession may be responsible for some of the increase in contacts, while it has also hit the Samaritans coffers and the local branch is facing significant financial difficulties.
“We are finding it quite difficult, as fundraising is more and more difficult. However, we had a good response to a fundraising draw we held over the summer and we’ll continue to do our best with what we have,” said Gerry.
He is hopeful there will be a good response to the latest recruitment efforts. “We take in new volunteers twice a year and this time we are having a session on a Saturday morning because weekday evenings won’t suit everyone. I think nearly all of our volunteers would say that being involved in the organisation has been very positive for them personally and being involved in the Samaritans offers a chance to make a real difference in society and to help people who are going through emotional distress. I’d hope that people would try and come along to the information/selection days and think seriously about getting involved in the Samaritans,” Gerry said.
The Samaritans information/selection meetings will take place on Thursday, September 8 at 8pm and on Saturday, September 10 at 10am. The venue for both is the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis.