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<h1><strong>Become a Samaritans listening volunteer</strong></h1><p><strong>Listening volunteers are there for anyone who needs someone. Every year, they spend over 900,000 hours responding to calls for help and they can change the course of someone’s life.</strong></p><blockquote><p><em>Now I take quiet comfort in knowing that by answering the phone, I can help someone feel better about themselves</em></p><p><em><strong>Jamilia, Samaritans voluntee</strong></em><strong>r</strong></p></blockquote><p>Listening volunteers can change the course of someone’s life. That’s where you come in.</p><h2><strong>Find out if being a listening volunteer is right for you.</strong></h2><h3><strong>Help people at difficult times</strong></h3><p>Every 10 seconds someone contacts us. Every 10 seconds we can help someone turn their life around. As a listening volunteer you get the chance to make a real difference to someone’s future.</p><h3><strong>Get support every step of the way</strong></h3><p>You’ll receive full training to prepare you for the kinds of conversations you’ll have. And when you start out, you’ll have a mentor with you, to give you confidence you’re doing the right thing.</p><h3><strong>Learn to do something valuable</strong></h3><p>You’ll gain a range of new skills and the confidence to use them, including the ability to understand people and manage difficult conversations. Many employers value these kinds of skills.</p><h2><strong>What it’s like being a listening volunteer</strong></h2><ul><li>It’s always different and always interesting – no two conversations are the same.</li><li>It feels like a privilege to have people confiding in you.</li><li>You’re never on your own, and there’s a fun, supportive atmosphere in our branches.</li><li>You can offer support on the phone or email.</li><li>You can take a break between conversations whenever you need to.</li><li>Spending a few hours helping other people can make you feel good about yourself.</li></ul><h2><strong>Who are we looking for?</strong></h2><h3><strong>Open minded</strong></h3><p>You’re willing to understand someone else’s point of view, even if it’s different from yours.</p><h3><strong>Supportive</strong></h3><p>You’ll help maintain a friendly and supportive atmosphere.</p><h3><strong>Empathetic</strong></h3><p>You’re comfortable with your own feelings and able to share another person’s feelings.</p><h3><strong>Discreet</strong></h3><p>You’ll be careful with any information you're told, and never share it outside Samaritans.</p><h3><strong>Accepting</strong></h3><p>You won’t discriminate against anyone for any reason, including gender, race, sexuality, disability or political views.</p><h3><strong>Honest</strong></h3><p>You’re able to tell the truth even when it’s difficult – for example about the type of support we can offer people, even when they want more.</p><h3><strong>Can anyone be a listening volunteer?</strong></h3><p>Samaritans welcomes applications from a wide range of applicants.</p><p>Anyone has it in them to be a Samaritan. You won’t need to have previous experience or qualifications, but you will need to be non-judgemental and accepting of others.</p><p>It doesn’t necessarily matter if you’ve gone through difficult times yourself, what matters is that you want to help people – all kinds of people, from all walks of life.</p><p>You need to be 18 or over, and because we'll invest in you (our training is really high quality), you need to see this not just as a short term role but something you're likely to do more long term.</p><p>Serving police officers and special constables can’t be listening volunteers because they have a duty to report crimes, which might conflict with our policies, although they can volunteer in any other role.</p><p>In order to safeguard our volunteers and callers the listening role requires a criminal record check. If you have a criminal record it won't necessarily stop you from becoming a volunteer. We’ll consider each case individually. For more information you can read our <a href="https://www.samaritans.org/support-us/volunteer/become-samaritans-listening-volunteer/criminal-records-vetting-policy/" target="_blank"><strong>Criminal Records Vetting Policy</strong></a>.</p><p>And we have zero tolerance for anyone who tries to take advantage of the vulnerable people who contact us.</p><h2><strong>How do I become a listening volunteer?</strong></h2><p>After making an enquiry you’ll have an interview as part of our selection process, and if you’re selected, you’ll attend our in-depth training.</p><ol><li><strong>Complete the enquiry form online</strong><br>You’ll go through some statements about the listening role and then complete our online enquiry form - it's quick we just need a few details.</li><li><strong>Have an interview</strong><br>This is an opportunity for us to get to know you and for you and us to find out if the role is right for you.</li><li><strong>Start your training</strong><br>Our training covers everything you’ll need to feel comfortable in the role.</li></ol><p>Our recruitment and training is all done by volunteers. It can take a few months from when you make your first enquiry, but we value everyone who is interested in volunteering with us. We have social media guidelines for our volunteers which includes asking trainee volunteers not to disclose they are volunteers until they are fully trained. <strong>We would therefore suggest that you don’t mention on social media that you are applying to become a volunteer.</strong> This protects you from being asked to help someone when you may not have completed the training.</p><h3><a href="https://www.samaritans.org/support-us/volunteer/become-samaritans-listening-volunteer/" target="_blank"><strong>Find out more about becoming a listening volunteer</strong></a></h3><h1><strong>Click apply to get started!</strong></h1>

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