SAMARITANS PROMOTE THEIR WELSH LANGUAGE HELPLINE AT EISTEDDFOD 2023

Bangor Samaritans have been offering emotional support in Welsh to anyone who needs it and promoting their Welsh Language service at this years Eisteddfod. 

Their outreach vehicle has been positioned alongside a Samaritans listening garden, which debuted at RHS Chelsea Flower Show this May. The garden has been reimagined and has visited festivals across the UK this summer to raise awareness of the support Samaritans has provided to festival goers for 50 years.

This week, the Eisteddfod has welcomed a reimagining of Samaritans Listening Garden to provide a place where people can sit, reflect, talk and listen in Welsh. It has also been designed to highlight the charity’s life-saving impact on festival communities across Wales and the UK. 

The dedicated Welsh Language line was first set up in 2010 in order to help Welsh speakers who needed emotional support.

To coincide with Samaritans attendance at the Royal Welsh Show and the Eisteddfod, Samaritans’ Welsh Language TV advert has been running on S4C which they hope will also raise awareness.

Neil Ingham, Executive Director for Wales said – 

‘We know that accessing emotional support in your first language is crucial and we hope promotion of our commitment to the Welsh Language will encourage more Welsh speakers to get in touch. We know that the past few years have been tough; the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis have widened inequalities and those who were struggling to begin with have been affected in a really serious way. We are here for anyone who is struggling right across Wales, in English or Welsh.

In order to continue supporting Welsh speakers, Samaritans are also searching for new volunteers.

As a Welsh or English only speaker, there are many ways you can support Samaritans as a volunteer in Wales. Samaritans are known for the support they offer their callers on the phone, but they also offer support by email, face to face and through letters. Helping Samaritans in this way is known as being a listening volunteer. However, you don’t have to be a listening volunteer and you can support them in many other ways which can include marketing, fundraising, outreach or a variety of administrative roles.

You can make an amazing difference at Samaritans helping to support people when they need someone to talk to or they are going through a difficult time in their life. Samaritans welcomes and values every volunteer, from all walks of life.

To find out more about volunteering at one of Samaritans ten locations across Wales, please visit www.samaritans.org/volunteer