Exeter, Mid and East Devon Samaritans is here for anyone struggling to cope – day or night, 365 days a year. We take action to prevent people reaching crisis point, helping people find ways to cope and learn the skills to be there for others. We campaign to raise awareness about the importance of emotional wellbeing and make suicide prevention a priority.
We offer a safe place for anyone to talk any time they like, in their own way – about whatever’s affecting them. Our vision is that fewer people die by suicide. We don’t want people to suffer alone.
Our work also includes raising awareness of our service so that people know how we can help them with their problems. We are always working hard to recruit new volunteers too, because more and more people are turning to Samaritans – last year there were over 5 million calls to Samaritans nationwide.
Our volunteers, who are all local to the branch, are also active in the local community, giving talks and presentations to local community groups, schools and businesses giving people guidance on how to look after their own mental and emotional wellbeing. We also provide support at local events.
All our volunteers are trained to:
Listen – because exploring feelings alleviates distress and helps people to understand themselves better
Let people make their own decisions – because telling people what to do takes responsibility away from them
Be non-judgemental – so people can talk to us without fear of prejudice or rejection
Be a human contact- because giving time, empathy and undivided attention meets emotional need and helps to reduce despair
Our branch is totally run and led by local volunteers, which helps to keep our running costs very low. We are dependent on local fundraising activities to cover our branch overheads.