The Listening Walk

[p]As humans we are all susceptible and vulnerable at certain times in our lives and we are affected by different things in different ways. What we do at these times varies vastly from person to person. Some will give themselves a dressing down and get on with their life, others will be contemplate ending their life.[/p][p]I have been a Samaritan in the Doncaster Branch for the last 10 years and though I now reside in the Highlands of Scotland, I still come back to Doncaster regularly to work a shift whilst visiting friends and family. [/p][p]As a Samaritan I realised very quickly that the person giving themselves a dressing down might one day be the person having suicidal thoughts. I want to give that person someone to talk to, wherever they are on the emotional path.[/p][p]After many ups and downs over the years I decided I had the experience and life skills to be a good Samaritan. In reality I lacked the only skill needed - the ability to listen. From my early days teaching golf, through to selling advertising and more recently running a schools theatre company I had developed excellent explaining skills. Listening was something you had to do to be polite before explaining something else.[/p][p]I went through the usual excuse finding exercises; ‘I don’t have enough time to volunteer’ and ‘I don’t think I can do it’ to name a couple, but after the excellent training and mentorship I began my Samaritans journey and I’m still here over 10 years later.[/p][p]Over the past five years I had been thinking about a project to raise awareness of what The Samaritans is and does. To let people know that there is someone there for you when you need a listening ear. This year I finally threw out the ‘I don’t have enough time’ and ‘I can’t do it’ and in 2019 I will start a 6000 mile walk around the United Kingdom and Ireland and visit every Samaritan branch.[/p][p]The Listening Walk is about raising awareness of The Samaritans, but that’s only part of the story. What about all the other charities, organisations and services out there that are reaching out to people. The smaller local services that are vital and are there for people when they are desperate.[/p][p]What if The Samaritans along with all these other organisations could recruit hundreds, even thousands of new volunteers? What if the walk helped to raise thousands or even tens of thousands of pounds for organisations that offer such invaluable support to people? What if it could just be a way of waving a flag at people in distress and saying “we’re here for you?”.[/p][p]The Listening Walk isn’t just a walk it’s a rallying call to a nation. If you want to help you can. You can give money if you’d like, but your time is far more precious. If you are able to donate then a small percentage will go to my local branch, a branch that has invested in me and enabled me to help many people over the last ten years. The rest will go to the wider nationwide network of Samaritans. [/p][p]The network of Samaritans branches is supported by an army of volunteers who all ensure that if you need a listening ear, there is someone there for you.[/p][p]Your donations will do so much good for the people that need it;[/p][p]£5 will allow us to respond to someone struggling to cope.[/p][p]It takes £46 to train and support an existing volunteer for a year.[/p][p]£189 will pay for a day of providing emotional health classes in schools.[/p][p]£200 can pay for Samaritans to recruit, train and support a new volunteer to give them the skills[/p][p]£334 will pay for one Samaritans branch to remain open for a day.[/p][p]This changes people's lives...thank you.[/p]