Chichester and Bognor Samaritans to Celebrate 24/7 Support on Awareness Day at West Sussex landmark

To make reaching out for help easier, the suicide prevention charity has created new assets explaining what to expect when contacting Samaritans.

Volunteers from the Bognor Regis, Chichester and District branch marked the Awareness Day (July 24) with a stall at Chichester Cross to encourage local community to reach out for help.

Nick Taunt, the Bognor Regis, Chichester and District branch director said: “Samaritans volunteers respond to a call for help every 10 seconds from people facing all sorts of challenges. Sadly, we also know that not everyone feels able to reach out for the support they need or may not feel they have someone to turn to.

“That’s why Samaritans Awareness Day aims to remind everyone that our volunteers are here to lend a listening ear at any time of day or night, whatever you’re going through.

“Recent data has shown that suicide rates may be at their highest in 25 years so it’s more important than ever that people don't wait until crisis point to seek support and share how they are feeling.”

To help encourage help-seeking, and make it easier to reach out for support, the suicide prevention charity has created new assets to answer common questions people have about contacting its volunteers.

These include ‘what if I don’t know what to say or how to explain how I feel?’, ‘is it OK to call more than once?’ and ‘can I call you even if I’m not feeling suicidal?’. Samaritans’ social media channels have been posting the answers and further important information throughout July.

Meanwhile, the phones at the Samaritans branch in Bognor Regis, Chichester and District, is said to be ‘always busy’. Nick Taunt added: “Over the last 12 months, our 70 or so listening volunteers have responded to over 16,000 calls and emails.

“We also talk with travellers at Barnham and Chichester stations, clients at Stonepillow and visitors to the local Foodbank, as well as speaking publicly about mental and emotional health to students at schools, university and college."

For more information about Samaritans Awareness Day, and how to get involved, visit www.samaritans.org/247