Over 12,000 volunteer hours supporting those in distress across Portsmouth

At the annual AGM of Samaritans of Portsmouth and East Hampshire on 24 September their director, Helen Puckett, expressed her thanks to all the volunteers for giving their time to help strangers in distress. Their work included 1,346 day shifts covering 4,031 hours and 527 night shifts, covering 1,581 hours.

Helen said: "There were 6,069 suicides registered in 2023 in England & Wales, and at Samaritans we believe every death by suicide is a tragedy. Our wonderful volunteers work day & night to help people feeling suicidal or in emotional distress."

She also presented awards to volunteers for long service, including one volunteer who has completed 45 years of service.

She also thanked the staff and volunteers at Sam's Place, the unique charity shop in Southsea, for bringing in over £500,000 in sales in their first five years of trading. She said "Half a million pounds , what an achievement for all involved and how fortunate we are as a branch to have this financial support".

To find out more about Portsmouth Samaritans please visit https://www.samaritans.org/portsmouth/