Samaritans Drogheda and North East has officially opened a new hub in Monaghan Town.
Volunteers are ready to support those struggling to cope ahead of Christmas at the local branch. The newly trained volunteers in Monaghan will make a real impact, answering calls to Samaritans’ national freephone helpline, 116 123, which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
They will give an estimated 2,400 hours of listening a year to others, as well as raise awareness of the suicide prevention charity and deliver outreach activities across the county. Patricia Monahan has been a volunteer with Samaritans for the past three years, she says she would recommend volunteering at Samaritans.
Margaret Fahy who is the Director of the Drogheda and North-East branch says the decision arose due to a noticeable increase in demand. Volunteer Branch Director, Margaret Fahey, said volunteers from Monaghan who travelled to Drogheda every week to do their duty, helped recruit and train the new volunteers, who started taking call at the end of July.
She said: “We are now currently training our second group of new volunteers in Carrickmacross, with volunteers and mentors from Drogheda travelling there once a week, to ensure new volunteers progress smoothly through the full training process.
“That means we will have 16 volunteers taking calls which is a huge achievement. "Samaritans is the charity that prevents suicide through the power of human connection. Nationally, volunteers across Ireland answered over 400,000 calls and emails a year.
