Volunteers reflect on 50 years of Waterford Samaritans
Pictured at City Hall for a Mayoral Reception by Mayor of Waterford City & County Cllr Seamus Ryan for the Samaritans of Waterford & South East, in recognition of their 50th anniversary, providing understanding and compassion to people through life's challenges and a safe space to be heard. Photo: Joe Evans
A Mayoral Reception was held on Friday, May 29, to honour the Samaritans in Waterford, who are celebrating 50 years of service this year.
The Samaritans is Ireland’s only 24-hour crisis helpline. They have recently expanded to include text messaging and email options, as well as talking on the phone.
John Cunningham, a retired French and History teacher, has “only” been volunteering for the Samaritans for over 40 years. He “didn’t make the decision” to volunteer. He told the : “I was out at an event, and my friend said that he’d enquired about Samaritans and he took the application form out of his pocket and he gave it to me.
“It was a simple way to help people because basically all we do is listen. His secret for staying committed to volunteering for so long is that he fits it into his weekly routine.
“I do three hours every week.”
Now that he’s retired, John does six-hour overnight shifts as well as taking on responsibilities on the committee side of the organisation.
John said that since the number changed from a regional phoneline to a national one, it’s gotten much busier.
John says the problems that people were calling about 40 years ago and now are the same. He said, “Life is the same for people. Relationship difficulties, bereavement, mental health issues. They’re basically the same.”
John said the only difference now “is the way we respond”. He has enjoyed getting to grips with emailing people rather than speaking on the phone with them.
Mayor of Waterford City and County, Cllr Seamus Ryan, speaking at the event, said: “Your contribution has been extraordinary. Countless hours spent listening, thousands of conversations that may never be publicly known and people sitting beside telephones through the night so someone facing loneliness, grief, despair or crisis would not have to face it alone.
“On behalf of the people of Waterford, I want to sincerely thank everyone who has contributed to these remarkable 50 years of service. Your compassion has made an immeasurable difference to countless lives.”
Sharon Devereaux, co-director of the Waterford branch, alongside Fintan Duffy, said, “Our volunteers are our heart and soul of Samaritans, they answer calls in the middle of the night, during holidays, during difficult weather and when they themselves have busy lives and responsibilities. They sit with difficult conversations, listen without judgment, and provide comfort without expecting recognition or reward.”
Sharon shared some feedback that someone recently left about a call they had with a Waterford volunteer: “I just want to say a big thank you to the volunteer who took my call. She really put me at ease and let me get my words off my chest. Her tone of voice was very calming and really helped me to feel less alone and to validate my feelings.”
Teresa O’Neill is a retired psychiatric nurse and started volunteering with the Samaritans 10 years ago.
She told the News & Star: “I like that it's confidential, people don’t know who’s on the other end of the line, so people can say what they want. Afterwards, you would be hoping that they’d be feeling a bit better.”
She believes: “You can’t save the world, but you can make a little difference to someone.”
Teresa said that when she gets a particularly difficult call, the other volunteers are there to support her: “By the time you leave the branch, you’re regulated again.”
She said that loneliness is by far the most common reason why people call. She said: “Loneliness is an epidemic in Ireland. So many people ring in and tell us, ‘You’re the first person I’ve spoken to all day.’” Teresa also noted that these calls come from people of “all different ages”, not just older people.
Jodie Taylor is one of the youngest volunteers at the branch. She has just completed her 12 weeks of training. She said she was surprised by how lonely people are.
She said, “We have people who call the branch every single day just to have someone to talk to.
“So many of our callers are just people who need to be acknowledged. It's just a little five-minute call.”
Jodie struggled with her mental health during her teenage years and in her early twenties. She told the News & Star: “I would have been involved in the mental health services where you don’t really feel listened to. That’s not the purpose of them. The purpose of them is to try to fix you and try to give you loads of diagnoses."
She said that during this time she used the Samaritans' texting services, which have “gotten me out of some very dark spots”. The reason why she liked Samaritans was that it was all anonymous:
“The anonymity of it is a beautiful thing because you’re so terrified of judgment from anyone in your life; friends, family and it's so much more devastating when you don’t feel validated. Then, there's this person giving you endless compassion without knowing you – it's less dark afterwards.”
Now that she’s in a position to do so, she wanted to give back to the organisation that helped her so much.
