The Carlow/Kilkenny branch of The Samaritans will hold their annual flag day this weekend to help raise much needed funds for their 24-hour service.
The branch raised €1,400 through a competition held in the Market Cross Shopping Centre on Friday last with participants guessing how many balloons were in a vintage car.
And organisers hope that the flag day will raise more money to help them continue their 24-hour service as well as support the renovation of their new premises on Dean Street.
“We are very grateful to the public who support us in our annual fund-raising initiatives. And the money raised this year will hopefully assist us in making sure that we are in our new premises on Dean Street by the end of the year,” said Gina Delaney, director of the Carlow/Kilkenny branch of the Samaritans.
Speaking about the valuable services provided by the charity, the director of the Carlow/Kilkenny branch said that the organisation is there for people in need of support. “As well as helping people who already have suicidal feelings when they contact us, we want people to be able to contact us before they get to that point,” she said.
From January to June of this year just over 4,000 people contacted them by phone or by calling into the office.
“Out of the 4,000 people who either phoned or called into our offices, which are based on Barrack Street, approximately 13 per cent expressed suicidal feelings,” she added.
Figures released by the Samaritans show that more and more people are availing of the valued services provided by the 1,900 volunteers who give up their time to work in the twenty call centres nationwide.
“The number of people availing of the service nationally increased by 8 per cent with 315,368 calls compared with 291,571 in the previous year, according to the figures released last week.
The national figures also show that the Samartians received a phone call every seven seconds with almost a fifth of callers experiencing suicidal tendencies. The callers were primarily aged from 25 to late 50s, which the Samaritans say covers the period of life when most emotional challenge and upheaval occurs.
The annual flag day for the Samaritans will take place this Thursday August 31 and Friday August 1. Anyone interested in helping out in the collection can contact Lisa on 087 4196622 or Breda on 086 1993714.
The Carlow/Kilkenny branch of the Samaritans can be contacted on 056 7765554/7765750.
