SAMARITANS
OF TAUNTON & SOMERSET held their Annual General Meeting at Trull village last week, celebrating their 50th year of providing valuable
emotional support to those in need.
In welcoming
supporters, listening volunteers and guests, including Cllr. Julie Fowler,
Mayor of Ilminster, Director Bob Cornes said, ‘As we look back over all those
years, we can reflect on a proud history of service to our local community and
to the wider Samaritan organisation. I have calculated that our local
volunteers have contributed over half a million hours of their own time
offering emotional support to those who needed it. What an
extraordinary achievement.’
This year of
celebration has been marked by a number of excellent events across the area,
including dinner at Somerset County Cricket Club, with many more to come during
the latter part of the year.
Although
fundraising was not at the forefront when planning the celebrations, money was
raised through the ‘Samaritans 50 Club’.
During the
meeting, special thanks was given to long serving volunteers, many of whom had
been working with Samaritans for over 20 years, as well as loyal supporters
from Wiveliscombe, who held a splendid 50th Anniversary Dinner,
raising over £1,000.
Earlier this year
the branch had a ‘Visit’ (the Samaritans equivalent of an OFSTED inspection)
and were delighted to have received the verdict ‘The Branch Leadership Team
together with all the volunteers make this an outstanding branch, supporting
callers as well as each other. Every volunteer should be proud to be a member
of Taunton Samaritans.’
In addition to
traditional volunteer activities, which now include texting and emailing as
well as listening, during a busy year, local Samaritans have been working with
the occupational health staff at Hinkley Point, developed a partnership with GP
surgeries to offer calls to patients and spoken to staff at every Jobcentre in
Somerset to make them aware of the support that can be offered.
Samaritans of
Somerset & Taunton have also been part of a county-wide committee to set up
an emergency emotional support system in the event of a major disaster and
provided support to schools in the aftermath of a suicide, continuing to be at
the forefront of the ‘Postvention Scheme’, as well as attending the Recovery in
the Park event at Lyngford park for recovering drug and alcohol addicts.
The team continue
to offer talks to local schools and other organisations, and in total during
the last 12 months answered 35,000 calls, 2000 emails and 2000 text messages.
Samaritans’ core
purpose is to support anyone who is struggling and who needs to talk, and will
be there 24/7, with the help of its amazing volunteers who give up their time
to make a real difference to the lives of callers.
Why not join us?
Want to find out more? Then get in touch.
Local helpline - 01823 288 998
(local call charges apply)
National free
phone: 116
123
Visit: 16 Wood Street, Taunton,
Somerset, TA1 1UN 9:00am - 9:00pm (no appt.
needed)
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