Athlone and Midlands Samaritans play major role in supporting nation’s mental health

VOLUNTEERS from Athlone and Midlands Samaritans played a major part in supporting the nation’s mental health last year as figure show calls to the helpline rose.

The Samaritans Ireland Impact Report for 2022 was launched in Dublin last week by Minister for Community Development, Integration and Charities, Joe O’Brien TD.

The Samaritans Ireland Impact Report 2022 can be found at www.samaritans.ie

Volunteers from Athlone Samaritans attended the launch, where they met several local politicians including Minister Peter Burke, Senator Paul Daly, Deputy Joe Flaherty, Deputy Carol Nolan, Senator Aisling Dolan, Deputy Claire Kerrane, Deputy Brendan Smith and Senator Pauline O’Reilly.

Samaritans is the only 24-hour emotional support helpline that covers the island of Ireland. Volunteers from Athlone are among the 2,000 strong volunteers who answer the freephone number 116 123 and email jo@samaritans.ie. They answered over half a million calls for help last year – that’s approximately 1,000 calls a day last year, up 10pc on 2021.

Volunteer Branch Director, Marie Moran, of Athlone and Midlands Samaritans, thanked all the local representatives who took the time to meet volunteers following the launch. She said: “The rise in calls answered by volunteers shows the continued need for our services and the impact they are making in providing emotional support to those in distress. We are focused on being there when people need us most and Athlone and Midlands Samaritans answered 23,000 calls in 2022. It has been a challenging time, but we are proud to say that Samaritans successfully provided essential support to those in need, 24 hours a day”.

She continued “Our volunteers remain at the heart of our service and we cannot thank them enough for their ongoing dedication to our callers. We are always looking for volunteers and urge anyone who would like to know more about volunteering with Samaritans to visit www.samaritans.ie/volunteer. Together, we will continue to make a lasting impact and provide a lifeline to those in need.”

The 2022 Impact Report showed over half a million calls were answered across Ireland. The most frequently raised concerns related to mental health or illness (42%), isolation and loneliness (34%), family (30%), relationship problems (20%).

A call seeking emotional support lasted an average 26 minutes.

The report was launched during World Mental Health Month, which aims to raise awareness of mental health issues worldwide. Samaritans urged anyone in need of support to call freephone 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.ie .