Lesley's walking 60 miles in 6 days for 60 years of Cambridge Samaritans

Lesley Crichton is raising money for Cambridge Samaritans
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60 miles in 6 days for 60 years · 7 September 2022

Someone who is suicidal, despairing or in distress contacts Samaritans every six seconds, and every single day around 16 people decide to end their own life across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Public Health England estimates that every suicide carries an economic cost of £1.6 million. Cambridge Samaritans, one of the oldest and largest Samaritan branches in the country, has been serving people in Cambridge and in the wider community for over 50 years. We provide emotional support local and nationally to callers to alleviate their feelings of despair and distress, and therefore reduce the likelihood of them taking their own life. Samaritans are here 24/7; last year alone our branch took over 32,000 calls, answered nearly 4,000 written contacts, and saw nearly 200 visitors at our Centre. We spent over 9,000 hours on the phone. We are entirely run and managed by 170 unpaid volunteers, who not only take calls but also train new Samaritans, provide internal support, and manage branch administration. Cambridge Samaritans works intensively with local organisations including Cambridge Wintercomfort, Littlehey Prison, Network Rail, and local schools, colleges and community groups. Cambridge Samaritans needs your support to train new volunteers, support existing ones, maintain our facilities, and develop our premises to expand our capacity - at present can’t respond to all the people who contact us for support.

Story

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Over the last 60 years many volunteers in the Cambridge branch of Samaritans have given their time, their skills, love and care to callers who are struggling to cope with their lives. We are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and so are there to listen and support at all times of day and night, often at the times when people feel most alone. The demand for our service is huge and we need money to keep it going as we have to raise all our funds ourselves. We are just one of 200 or so branches round the country from Lerwick, Shetland in the north to Truro in Cornwall. If you would like to learn more, please follow this link: 

What we do | Samaritans

I know that there are many demands on our generosity, especially now, but if you feel you can support with any amount, however small, that will be very much appreciated. 

I will post daily and add at least one photo to prove that I am really doing it. I will have friends or fellow Samaritans walking with me on individual days which will be lovely. The walks are all local to Cambridge, with the furthest afield being a walk round Grafham Water on the last day. My cover photo was taken on a recent walk there. It will be a challenge for me, so it will be a great feeling to know that I am raising money with each step.

Donation summary

Total
£855.00
+ £185.00 Gift Aid
Online
£795.00
Offline
£60.00

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