Who are we? What do we do?

Samaritans offer confi dential emotional support to distressed, depressed, bereaved and suicidal callers, 24/7, 365 days a year. You don’t need to be suicidal to contact us. In Kettering we currently have about 70 listening volunteers who give up their time freely and willingly to help those in distress. In addition to daytime and evening duties, each Samaritan volunteer is expected to be on duty during the night from 11pm – 2am or 11pm to 5am. Our night duties can be, and often are, very busy as it is during the night when callers are at their lowest and their fears, worries and problems seem to be overpowering.

It is often easier for a caller to talk to a completely anonymous volunteer and reveal their most personal and distressing thoughts, rather than offl oad to a family member or friend for fear of worrying or upsetting that person.

We can be contacted by ‘phone, email, text or in person at our offi ce in Montagu Street, Kettering, and are at the end of the ‘phone to listen and support our callers but never to give advice. It is by talking through problems and crises that callers at the end of the conversation which can be very lengthy, can see a possible course of action which is right for them.

We offer follow-up calls in certain circumstances and arrange to ring the caller back to see how they are progressing and, if the person is still distressed, we may suggest we call again.

Samaritans are actively engaged in cooperating with Network Rail to offer emotional support to those staff and passengers who may have witnessed a suicide on the railways. This can be a very traumatic time for all concerned and particularly the train driver. We have Samaritan posters at every station in our area and visit stations on a regular basis to talk to the staff. We are also available at very short notice to be called out to a station where a person has committed suicide or is threatening to do so.

We have a small talks team who visit schools, drop-in centres, etc. to raise awareness of Samaritans. We are self-funding and receive no state aid so raising money is ongoing to raise the £20,000 per annum it costs us for ‘phone calls and to maintain our premises in Montagu
Street and provide a reliable service to our callers. We receive 2,000+ calls a month in Kettering and over the Christmas and New Year period, Samaritans took a call every 6 seconds.

Our message to all callers is that we do care, we are here for you and you are never alone. Whatever you’re going through, we’ll go through it with you.

111 Montagu Street, Kettering, NN16 8XJ
Tel: 01536 416999
08457 909 090 Text: 07725 909 090
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Samaritans - We're here for you

Samaritans - We're here for you