Interview Spotlight- Olga Sullivan, Director of the Cardiff Branch of Samaritans.

Every month we spotlight amazing organisations in Wales that are doing great things in the community. This month we are interviewing Olga Sullivan, Director of the Cardiff Branch of Samaritans.

In this interview Olga tells us more about the amazing services they offer, advise on what to say to a loved one that’s struggling and an insight into what their phone lines have been like during covid.

Tell us about Samaritans and how it started?

Samaritans was started by a young London vicar called Chad Varah back in November 1953, who wanted to help people who were struggling to cope but felt they had no one to turn to. A month later, the Daily Mirror referred to the service as the ‘Good Samaritans’ and the name stuck!

At that time, suicide was illegal in Britain, and still was right up until 1961. He began to understand the problems of having suicidal thoughts at a funeral for a fourteen-year-old girl.  She’d taken her own life because she didn’t know what was happening to her body when she started her periods and couldn’t face the thought of getting into trouble because there was something was wrong with her.  

We now have 201 branches all over the UK and Ireland with around 20,000 volunteers providing confidential, non-judgmental emotional support, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

What services do you offer?

The popular perception is that Samaritans operate a round-the-clock emotional support telephone helpline for anyone in distress or despair.   However we also have an email, online chat, and correspondence service, as well as in ‘normal times’ offering people the opportunity to come to the branch so they can talk to one of our volunteers face to face, so people can get in touch in whichever way they feel most comfortable. 

 But this is just part of what Samaritans do.  We also reach out in other ways too such as:  

Running a Prison Listening Scheme, Supporting Schools, being at Railway Stations, on our Local High Streets, GP surgeries and Emergency Departments, as well as attending events and delivering presentations to a variety of interested groups and workplaces.  

We also have a Samaritans Self-Help app, and a dedicated Festivals Branch to support anyone in need face to face during an event.

What are some comforting words a loved one/ friend could say to someone that is struggling?

Here’s a few tips to use to help you start a conversation with someone:

• Choose when you think is a good time to talk, and somewhere without distractions

• Use ‘open questions’, ones that that need more than a ‘yes’ or ’no’ answer, such as ‘How are things? I’ve noticed you don’t seem yourself’ and ‘how’s that making you feel?’

• Keep the focus on the person you’re talking to, avoid giving your opinion about what they should do or your own point of view of what’s right or wrong. 

We have a little acronym SHUSH to help remember some key pointers:

S - show you care

H - have patience

U - use open sentences

S - say it back

H - have courage

How has Covid affected the way you work and the volume of calls you're receiving? 

Covid hasn’t affected the way we offer support to our callers, though many said they found coping during the pandemic more stressful and difficult to manage than before.  Callers say they can’t rely on their usual support mechanisms, and in many instances, they just aren’t available to them anymore which impacts directly on the way they feel they’re left to struggle with their additional stresses. 

How can people and organisations support Samaritans?

There are lots of ways you can support us:

• You could become a Listening Volunteer at your local branch

• You could be a Support Volunteer to help behind the scenes supporting the work we do eg publicity

• You could raise awareness of the work that we do

• You could fundraise on our behalf

• You could support us financially with a donation – Our central office has calculated that it costs £5 for every call we take, and we take a call every 6 minutes nationally!

• You could offer goods and services we need to keep the branch open at a reduced cost or as a gift

How do you become a Volunteer?

That’s easy, if you want out find out more, please visit our Cardiff Samaritans website and click on the ‘find out more’ link under the heading Volunteer at this Branch – it will tell you more about what’s involved and how you can apply.  We also hold Information Sessions a couple of times a year where you can come along to the branch, meet some of the volunteers and find out things in person.

For our listening volunteers, we have an intense initial training of 5 3-hour sessions over 5 weeks, followed by 6 weeks being mentored.  After this you have a probationary period of approximately 5 months before you become a fully fledged member of the branch.  

Our Support Volunteers undergo a 3-hour induction before they start with us too. We are always looking for committed and enthusiastic volunteers, so please feel free to take a look

What are the ways people can contact Samaritans including social media handles?

For emotional support please ring our freephone number 116123 or email us at  jo@samaritans.org

Follow us on Twitter @CardiffSams or by using the #CardiffSams

Visit our website or just search Cardiff Samaritans