A LOCAL branch of a nationwide mental health charity has reflected on its 70th anniversary.

Samaritans is a well-known charity that provides a lifeline to those who are experiencing personal mental crises and need a listening ear and non-judgemental voice.

Thursday marked 70 years since the charity was founded by Chad Varah.

Fifteen years later, in 1968, the Samaritans branch in Carlisle was born, and 55 years later they’re still here.

The current branch is located at 119-123 Botchergate, having moved there from Corporation Road in 2000.

It was officially opened two years later by Melvyn Bragg, and currently has around 80 volunteers, most of whom are ‘listening volunteers’ who answer the helpline.

Every year, the branch receives over 10,000 calls from people who need support to cope with life.

Dave Kerry, director of the Carlisle branch, has been a Samaritan since 1982 where he worked in the Chester branch.

He then transferred to Whitehaven in 1987 until moving to Carlisle, from where he has worked for six years.

On what the charity is to him, he said: “It’s mainly offering a non-judgmental listening ear to people who are really in dire straits and who lack the ability or access to someone else who will give them the time and permission to offload.”

The Carlisle branch is a 24-hour service, something that is a vital lifeline to those in desperation.

“An awful lot of people are really quite desperate, hugely lonely, or suicidal, and from anything that life’s thrown at them, they’ve gotten to the end of their tether.

“Many organisations don’t offer the 24-hour access that we do.

“We talk to some people with quite significant mental health needs, and it offers a unique opportunity at any time to speak to another human being who is able to give some time to offer some human support.

“For some, it’s like being lonely in a crowd.

“Even with some people who do have a network of people around them, there are a number of issues that some people feel they can’t talk about, so an opportunity to speak anonymously to someone who is going to give an investment of time and energy provides comfort at the moment.

“It's surprising the number of people who call and have nothing there to support them.

“You’ll speak to people and they will say they’re calling for one reason, but very often when you go down that road and talk about their experiences, they’re coping with a huge array of problems and you can understand why people become desperate.

“For me, the anniversary shows that the organisation has stood the test of time, it does well, and the evidence suggests that what it does works for an awfully large number of people.”