Suicide prevention charity challenges people to become better listeners

Suicide prevention charity challenges people of the North West to become better listeners

Rochdale, Oldham and District Branch Samaritans want to help people to become better listeners, and the branch will be at Rochdale Railway Station on Saturday 23 July from 10am to 2pm highlighting the support they provide for the community, which centres on good listening skills.

Rochdale Samaritan James McCready said: “We would encourage those who feel they have good listening skills to consider becoming Samaritan volunteers, we provide an excellent intensive training programme and with our support people can become even better listeners.

“We would also like to highlight the partnership Samaritans have with Network Rail and rail companies which seeks to reduce the incidence of suicide on the rail network.

"We have trained 15,000 railway staff nationwide to spot when someone may be in distress or despair, and who may have thoughts or intention of ending their life, and to be able to listen to them and provide emotional support.

"Rail staff we trained have potentially saved over 1,000 lives by being there and offering a friendly, listening ear.”