Mary Arthur was the guest speaker at the meeting of the Dunmow Rotary Club. She explained the beginnings of The Samaritans movement in 1953, when the Rev Chad Varah, St Stephen s, Walbrook, London realised that human direct contact could not cover the ne

Mary Arthur was the guest speaker at the meeting of the Dunmow

Rotary Club. She explained the beginnings of The Samaritans movement in 1953, when the Rev Chad Varah, St Stephen's, Walbrook, London realised that human direct contact could not cover the needs of people to talk. From that small acorn, the tree has grown into an organisation of 202 branches, with 17000 volunteers and five million contacts. Some centres receive 25,000-30,000 calls in a year. The Chelmsford Branch has a unique telephone link with the local HM Prison and even trains inmates to become listeners. Every callers' details are kept anonymous. The telephone contact to a central point is available to prevent a local office not being available due to a busy call time, or an office being closed for periods of time. To the question "Has there been an age and/or sex profile change?" Surprisingly men are as likely to call The Samaritans nowadays, maybe because of a massive debt rise, but also personal problems are more prevalent from men, since the 1950-1980's. To finish, Rotarian Frank Warboys gave thanks to the Samaritans' representatives, with a complimentary audience response of appreciation.