More volunteers needed at Samaritans of Scarborough
The charity says it can't operate as much as they'd like to
A charity in Scarborough says it cannot operate 24/7 because they need more people to help.
The Samaritans say they provide a listening ear but they are worried someone might not be heard due to a lack of volunteers.
Nationally, volunteers answer a call every 10 seconds.
Dorree Gallie is a listening volunteer at the Samaritans of Scarborough and she said: "We don't do face to face anymore. We made a decision not do that around the Covid time partly for health and safety reasons, but we can't open 24 hours a day because we don't have the volunteers to do that.
"We have a rota with different times of the day to try and fit in with people's lifestyle. We don't say 'oh you have to come in at such and such a time.' People look at the rota and see what they can do and put their names down to do it but obviously, we'd like more times on that rota.
"We do promote a 24/7 service and that's nationally. You'd get the big places like Leeds and London because they can do that. We can't do that here because of the lack of volunteers although we do some night duties.
"We expect people to do three night duties a year from midnight to about 5am, so they are getting a taste of what happens. The night duties are the busiest. It's pretty busy all of the time but the night duties are extremely busy, so the more people we have, the more night duties we can open as well."
You do not need to have previous experience, but you do need to be interested in other people and be open minded.
The next training programme starts on Monday 18th September.
Doree added: "you will be guided, mentored and cared for all the way through the training period. You will become part of a valuable, caring service for anyone who needs our help.
"It’s a very worthwhile and rewarding experience knowing that you just might have made a difference to someone else’s life.
"We do so much at Samaritans. As well as manning our telephone lines we give talks to schools, colleges, emergency services, veterans etc. in fact anyone who would like to learn more about what we can offer.
"If you feel that a listening role is not for you we have opportunities to help with fundraising. We need to raise £40k per year to keep our valuable service active in Scarborough, Whitby and Pickering).
"We also need volunteers to help man our Samaritan shop in Hanover Road. If you can offer a few hours a week we would like to hear from you. We would like to keep our shop open for more hours but need people to help us do this."
If you are interested in a listening or support role please apply by contacting the Samaritans