Samaritans in Stratford are like a family but they still need volunteers

IT’S 1am and a woman is on a motorway bridge. It’s not known what will happen next. Is she contemplating suicide? She’s in a dark place and needs someone to talk to urgently. Eventually she picks up her phone and dials a number which will save her life.

The call was answered by Stratford Samaritans which is the second biggest branch in the West Midlands.

Stratford has 156 volunteers from a cross section of society. Nationally, Samaritans has 22,000 volunteers and 200 branches throughout the UK. A call for help is received every ten seconds.