SAMARITANS were formed in 1953 with the vision that fewer people die by suicide.

The Basingstoke branch currently has approximately 70 members and is proud to be part of the wider community of 20,000 Samaritans across the UK and Ireland.

Its website is samaritans.org/branches/basingstoke-samaritans and its Twitter account is @samaritansbas.

We work to achieve this vision by making it our mission to alleviate emotional distress and reduce the incidence of suicide feelings and suicidal behaviour.

There are many projects with Samaritans to improve accessibility for our callers, also to continually raise funds to ensure that the branch network remains open.

We are located at 5 Essex Road, and the national number to call, for free, is 116 123.

The branch is open for face-to-face support during the opening times on our website.

At Basingstoke we have a thriving outreach community project which closely liaises with other organisations across the community to provide a focused and coordinated approach in supporting the community.

Samaritans come from all walks of life, we have doctors, dentists, nurses, office workers, military, teachers, students, mums, dads and we are all equal, as with all charities.

Volunteers are the lifeblood and always required. As the demand for support increases, we are always looking for new listening and support volunteers.

Anyone interested in helping should contact 01256 462333 or email office@basingstokesamaritans.org.uk.

If you require emotional support and would like to talk to us off the record, please call our helpline on 01256 462333 / 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org.