Gonna be a Samaritan!

I attended a 'selection day' yesterday, and have just had a phone call saying they would love to have me if I am still interested. For those who don't know, Samaritans is an organisation that provides confidential phone, email and face to face counselling for people in distress. It started as a suicide hotline, and has branched out from that, though there is still the notion that they are mostly for suicidal people.

It is run and staffed entirely by volunteers, which is quite amazing for such a huge organisation! My local branch requires a commitment of one 4 hour shift every second week, an overnight shift once every couple of months and a twilight shift every couple of years. They are regular shifts, but one can swap around to suit, so for example the overnight shifts I will be able to swap to days in school holidays/half term etc.

Training starts next month, and is by all accounts excellent. I will do that for a bit, and then decide if a qualification in counselling is the right way for me to go, and at the same time do some good for society...

We shall see how it all goes - watch this space!