Samaritans prepares for over 14,500 phone calls on Christmas Day with help from Inverness volunteers

Volunteers at Inverness are among 14,000 listening volunteers at Samaritans branches across the UK and Ireland that provide vital emotional support to people struggling to cope every day of the year, including Christmas.

But the branch’s volunteers are gearing up for a challenging winter as the cost of living continues to bite, leaving many people facing difficult decisions to cope with their ever-stretched finances.

New insights from a survey of Samaritans volunteers across the UK and Ireland found that three quarters (74 per cent) thought that the cost of living will impact callers more over the winter.

Alison Wood from Inverness Samaritans said: “We know that this time of year can be challenging for all sorts of reasons, but with the ongoing cost of living crisis, things might feel even harder this year. That’s why it’s so vital that our volunteers are there for those who want to break their silence.”

Inverness Samaritans will be in the Eastgate shopping centre on Saturday, December 16 from 10am to 4pm to talk with those who need support or are interested in becoming a Samaritan volunteer.

Francesca, 39 knows how hard the festive period can be. After spending lockdown on her own Francesca began to struggle with anxiety, brought on by isolation and loneliness. She reached her lowest point while decorating her Christmas tree on her own and turned to Samaritans for support.

Francesca said: “I kept seeing videos of happy families playing quizzes on zoom and families in matching pjs at Christmas, and at that moment in time, I felt so lonely. My mind was in a downhill spiral. I’d exhausted all avenues of calling my mum, my friends, my work friends - I felt like I was becoming a nuisance. I felt like a broken record. I thought I'd be annoying them if I called them again.

“When I was in the darkest place I had ever been in my life – the most desperate. When I was in that moment, I called Samaritans and I even began laughing at the end of that call. It gave me hope; that if I could feel okay at the end of that call, I would feel okay again in life.”

Samaritans launches this year’s Break the Silence campaign to remind people that they don’t need to struggle alone. The charity is asking people to donate to keep Samaritans here for people to talk to when they are ready to break their silence.

Samaritans can be contacted for free at any time, from any phone, on 116 123, by email at jo@samaritans.org or by visiting www.samaritans.org.

You can also follow Samaritans on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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