Tag Archives: Samaritans

A SAMARITANS volunteer raising awareness of the mental health charity by walking over 9,000 kms, or 6,000 miles, will visit the Samaritans Ennis and Clare branch this weekend as part of his tour.  David Matthews is walking to all 201 Samaritans branches across Ireland and the United Kingdom to show people how a Samaritans volunteer is always there for them, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. David has been a Samaritans volunteer for 12 years. He will arrive in Ennis at approximately 4pm on Saturday and will be overnighting in Ennis before making his way onto the Limerick branch of the Samaritans. His Irish walking route, dubbed The Listening Walk will visit: Drogheda; Newry; Portadown; Bangor; Belfast; Ballymena; Colerain; Derry; Omagh; Sligo, Athlone, Galway, Ennis, Limerick, Tralee, Cork, Waterford, Kilkenny, Arklow and Newbridge. He will finish in Dublin in late Sept / early Oct. Margaret MacMahon Ennis Branch Director said, “David has been an inspiration for Samaritans volunteers and callers and we can’t wait …

AHEAD of the ‘Longest Night’ of December 21, Samaritans Ennis and Clare are reminding those in need that their helpline will be open during their darkest hours if they are lonely or struggling to cope this Christmas. Volunteers on the 24-hour-helpline answered almost 40,000 calls in Ireland in December last year, with more than 50 volunteers answering over 1,150 calls and written contacts on Christmas Day alone. Landmarks across Ireland and Ennis and Clare are lighting up in green to mark the Longest Night, to show people Samaritans are here for them during the long dark nights. Áras Contae an Chláir and Samaritans Centre, Sunville in Ennis are among those turning green on Monday, December 21, the winter solstice, to support Samaritan’s Christmas campaign. We are calling on local businesses and others to do the same. Margaret MacMahon Director of Ennis Samaritans, said, “It has been an unprecedented year with the pandemic affecting so many people’s health and wellbeing and …

EVERY day people go into the Samaritans centre on the Kilrush Road in Ennis and take calls from people in different levels of distress, some of them at risk of suicide. When Covid-19 struck, it placed at least some stress on everyone, while it was particularly difficult for some people to cope, and problems of loneliness and isolation were made more acute than before. It made the service the Samaritans are offering even more valuable than it had been but it posed some new challenges for the organisation, which director Gerhard Terpelle feels have been quite well handled. “I think we are doing fairly well. Of course we are affected by the virus a little bit, like everybody else. Some volunteers had to stay at home when the first phase started; they were over 70 and things like that. “The other volunteers were very generous with their time. Some did two or three and even four duties a week. That …

A FUNDRAISING cycle in aid of Samaritans Ennis and Clare last weekend has raised over €1,700 with donations still coming in. Last Friday Ennis man Peadar White took on a 12 hour cycling challenge from his home. He told us he has been “delighted” with the response to the fundraising effort. “It was a great day. I had hoped to reach €1,500 but we’ve already gone over that and more is coming in. It’s great to see so many people supporting the work of Samaritans here in Clare.” Donations can be still be made online at www.idonate.ie/PeadarWhite12HourCycle or send a cheque to Ennis Samaritans, Sunville, Kilrush Road,Ennis County Clare. 

ENNIS’ Peadar White will be getting back in the saddle this Friday in support of the Samaritans Ennis and Clare which is facing a significant loss of funding this year. Every year Peadar takes part in a sponsored cycle fundraiser at the Height to raise funds and awareness of the Samaritans. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has meant that Peadar has had to change his initial plans and is now taking on a ‘socially distant’ 12 hour cycling challenge at home. Peadar explains, “I had been in training since Christmas for this and we had it all arranged to do a cycle in the Height but that all had to be cancelled because of Covid-19. Then we were thinking about it and realised that I could do it at home. I’ll be cycling outside in my garden if the weather is good, and if it starts to rain I’ll just move the bike into my garage, I’m cleaning it out right …

A MEMBER of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard has helped to talk down “11 or 12 people” contemplating taking their own lives at the Cliffs of Moher. Thomas Doherty has been a volunteer with the unit for the last 30 years and he said that over the course of that time, he has talked down 11 or 12 people from the cliff edge “from an 80-year-old woman to a woman in her 40s”. The softly spoken and self-effacing Doolin man said, “Anybody that has been on the edge has come back for me. It is a good success rate actually. I hope it stays that way.” Asked what he says to people he suspects may be about to jump, Mr Doherty said, “I ask them straight out, ‘are they thinking about self-harm?’ You have to get straight to the point.” Mr Doherty has undergone specialist training to deal with such situations and said, “If they say they want …

ENNIS and Clare Samaritans are appealing to members of the local community to sign up to support people in distress who might not have anywhere else to turn. Samaritans offer round-the-clock emotional support and a safe space for people to talk, in their own way, about whatever is getting to them. The confidential service is offered by phone, email, text, letter and face-to-face. Based on the Kilrush Road in Ennis, the branch is looking to recruit more people to ensure it can continue to offer its service to the local community. Last year, Samaritans Ennis answered 40,955 calls and they need additional help to continue to provide the service. Claire Cremin, director of the Ennis and Clare branch said, “Everyone has it in them to be a Samaritan volunteer. Samaritans are just ordinary people who give up their time to listen to others. “To be able to touch another person’s life when it really matters, either by giving them the space …

WHILE the Fleadh is set to bring a carnival atmosphere to Ennis, sadly and inevitably a certain amount of people will be struggling and the Samaritans Festival Branch are coming to town to offer their support. Around 23 members of the branch from all over Ireland will be in Clare, where it is expected they will offer confidential emotional support to around 200 people next weekend. Sean Higgins, director of the Samaritans Festival Branch, explained volunteers at centres around the country also volunteer to travel to festivals. “There are about 70 volunteers involved in the festival branch and about 23 of them will be in Ennis. They’re from all over the country, from Coleraine, Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Dublin and, obviously, people from Ennis.” They talk to anyone in need of a listening and supportive ear. “We take our base in Ennis and we go out to the streets. We stand around, we have a little badge, we say hello to …