Samaritans
For the ethnic group of this name, see Samaritan
Samaritans (formerly The Samaritans) is a British-based registered charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress or at risk of suicide. Samaritans was founded in 1953 by Chad Varah, whose personal experience as a vicar led him to understand that there was a need for this service.
Samaritans' vision is for a society where fewer people die by suicide because people are able to share feelings of emotional distress openly without fear of being judged. Samaritans believes that offering people the opportunity to be listened to in confidence, and accepted without prejudice, can alleviate despair and suicidal feelings. It is the aim of Samaritans to make emotional health a mainstream issue.
The core of Samaritans work is a telephone helpline, operating from approximately 200 branches across the United Kingdom and Ireland. However, since 1994, Samaritans have also offered an email service. Samaritans stresses that the service it provides is not counselling, and will not give advice. Rather, it provides a listening ear and an opportunity to talk through problems. Samaritans offers support through 18,300 trained volunteers and is entirely dependent on voluntary support.
Samaritans was previously part of Befrienders International, an organization set up to coordinate similar activities internationally. However, this organization collapsed in 2002, and Samaritans is now leading efforts to find an appropriate replacement.
The organization's name comes from the Biblical parable of the Good Samaritan. The name was not originally chosen by Chad Varah - it was given to the organization by the Daily Mirror newspaper.