The Samaritans Annual Christmas Concert will be held in the Friary Church Athlone on Thursday December 8 at 8pm.
The Army band of the 4th Western Brigade will be conducted by Capt Fergal Carroll. The featured soloist will be bass-baritone Derek Ryan and there will be a recital by the popular Athlone folk group, Anam. Admission is €10 and tickets are available at Musicworld, Golden Island Shopping Centre, and Castle Gift Shop, Castle Street, Athlone.
Athlone Midland Samaritans opened their doors with 68 volunteers on February 2 1992. Since then it has depended on the Midlands communities of counties Westmeath, Offaly, Longford, and Roscommon for both financial support and a continuing cohort of volunteers. It is a completely voluntary organisation and no one in the branch receives any payment. The Athlone Samaritans are situated at 3 Court Devenish, Athlone. There are presently 75 active volunteers in the branch.
The Samaritans are committed to providing a completely confidential, non-judgmental emotional support 24 hours a day, by phone, email, and personal contact. Samaritans want a society where fewer people end their own lives by suicide and where people are able to talk openly about their feelings and have respect for the feeling of others.
Anyone can get low or reach a crisis in their life, but probably never more so than in these recessionary times. The Samaritans offer people the time and space to organise their thoughts and generate positive options for moving through such a difficult period. They are there for anyone experiencing distress, isolation, despair, loneliness, bereavement, job loss, exam stress, financial worries, family problems, or simply a feeling of being unable to go on - whatever they are dealing with - they don’t have to deal with it alone.
No matter what the problem, the Samaritans are available to offer support at any hour, day or night.
The Samaritans are available at 1850 60 90 90 24 hours a day, 365 days a year or can be contacted by email at [email protected].
