Ms Sarah Stack:

On support, we work closely with organisations such as the National Office for Suicide Prevention, NOSP, and the National Suicide Research Foundation, NSRF, and we get statistics from them. We also work with other organisations at a lower level with peer-to-peer training. We trained many people in organisations where calls suddenly started coming in. They might have a different type of helpline, but the calls that they were getting suddenly became crisis calls. The staff and volunteers of those organisations would not necessarily know how to deal with crisis calls and those where suicidal ideation was being expressed. We were able to train those volunteers in how to handle those types of calls and how to mind themselves and each other after dealing with those calls. The Samaritans is almost like an expert guide in this area for other organisations.

We also found that many other organisations have had to go from offering face-to-face support to providing such support via telephone or online. Those organisations would not normally have done that before. We were able to go in and give expert advice on data protection, safeguarding and even on the technical side of how to manage a bigger phone line. All the calls that we receive come into our freefone 116 123. Calls from many different organisations come through to that number, though, including from charities. We take calls from Alone after hours, and we also do that for five other organisations. In addition, we also take calls through the Department of Foreign Affairs and offer support overseas in that context. Therefore, we manage a large phone network and we have experience in this area. We got support for that overseas phone line from the Department of Foreign Affairs. We go into partnerships, then, with statutory and other organisations. The volunteers give their time for free and that would be a staff cost somewhere else. We would be lost without the volunteers, as Mr. Fitzgerald and Mr. Mulligan said. We would not be here if they had not been picking up the phone over the last 18 months and the previous 60 years as well. They are amazing.