Lowestoft & Waveney Samaritans support those in crisis and emotional distress, through a confidential helpline and local community outreach work.
Funding will assist with the extra demand on services that the Lowestoft & Waveney Samaritans (LWS) is currently experiencing. Calls are increasing daily while the effect of the coronavirus is developing, and the Samaritan volunteers who answer these calls have to do so from their centre. Volunteer listeners are not allowed to answer calls remotely for health and safety and safeguarding reasons, and a minimum of 2 people have to be on duty for each shift.
This grant will pay for additional running costs including additional volunteer travel costs, cleaning and cleaning materials as well as a small amount for additional COVID-19 related publicity. Many of the Samaritans volunteer listeners are currently unable to volunteer because they are over the age of 70 or are having to self-isolate for medical reasons. LWS has a number of partially trained and new volunteers who have to complete their training and the purchase of 4 laptops will enable the organisation to put “virtual” training in place, so that the newly trained volunteers can step into the shoes of those who are currently unavailable.
Please accept our gratitude for your help at this desperate time. As you can imagine, we are inundated with calls at the moment. We put the phone down at the end of a call and it immediately rings again. Many if the calls are from people self-isolating, who desperately need someone to talk to, who are confined within 4 walls through fear and necessity and who just need someone to talk to make them feel human again, even for a little while. The funds we have received from you will really help us to keep the branch running. You have become as much of a lifeline to Samaritans as Samaritans are to our clients, so thank you so much for that.