Samaritans Isle of Man has announced an open information meeting to give those in the local community who want to volunteer with the charity the chance to find out more about its vital work.

Samaritans provides emotional support to those in distress, despair, or feeling suicidal. A volunteer undertakes, on average, one 3-4 hour shift per week and all volunteers receive full training and ongoing support to enable them to respond to phone calls, emails and text messages from anyone who is struggling to cope with their life.

If you think you might be able to help those in need, and become a part of the Samaritans team of volunteers, come along to the meeting area at St Ninian’s Church, Douglas between 11am and 1pm on Saturday 20th September.   You can stay as long as you like.

Commenting on the event, a Samaritans volunteer said: “Our volunteers are the core of what we do at the Samaritans. It is they who provide those in need with the chance to talk over their troubles at any time, in their own way, and off the record. Samaritans Isle of Man has been offering support to those struggling to cope since 1979. As well as our listening service, which we offer by telephone, email, text, and visiting the centre, we also offer support to the local prison and l schools. Each of these requires the time and care of our team of selfless volunteers and it would be wonderful if more members of the Manx community were able to contribute to our work.”

If you would like to find out more about volunteering with Samaritans, call Samaritans on 663399, email samaritans@manx.net, or message them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Samaritans-Isle-of-Man.