Samaritans need help

Martin and I had a morning wander along the prom at Portobello, which was lovely, as ever. 

This telephone box (surprisingly, still there and working) links to a news report we read with dismay this morning. Apparently, the Samaritans high heidyins are proposing to close at least 100 branches. Their aim is fewer but bigger branches, which we can’t believe will benefit people needing their services in time of desperate need. 

An advantage of the current network is that a person can phone, or even pop into, a branch in their local community. I can’t imagine a distraught person would be in the right frame of mind to travel to a big town or city, perhaps 40 miles away, instead of maybe five miles. 

Additionally, there may be a loss of well trained and experienced volunteers who won’t be able to travel distances to these bigger centres. And if some volunteers are required to answer calls from their home (virtual volunteering, it’s called), what about their support network, after taking what could be difficult, draining calls?

Martin is particularly annoyed as in his younger days he volunteered for the  Samaritans in Macclesfield. 

This is such a bad idea for people who may be so vulnerable they wish to contact the Samaritans. If you wish to read more about this, here’s a link:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2l23ylv46o