Samaritans To Push On With Branch Closures Despite Volunteers’ Objections

Samaritans is pressing up pinch arguable proposals to adjacent immoderate of its 200 section UK branches, insisting changes were basal to make nan 70-year-old organisation fresh for nan future.

Julie Bentley, nan intelligence wellness charity’s main executive, told nan Guardian nan organisation will group up three-year location projects “co-created” pinch volunteers to create much businesslike ways of working, including branch mergers and closures.

She described nan changes arsenic “evolution” not “revolution”, but conceded nan Samaritans would run a smaller branch web successful future. “Change needs to happen, let’s make judge it happens successful a clear and considered way,” she said.

Proposals primitively floated successful July estimated astir 100 branches – astir half nan web – would beryllium unopen down, triggering wide dismay among volunteers concerned nan kindness would suffer its section organization roots and connections.

A missive sent by Samaritans to its volunteers connected Tuesday nighttime nary longer mentions branch closure targets, suggesting nan kindness has been bruised by spot of unpaid guidance since July erstwhile nan proposals were first mooted.

“We admit and understand nan interest expressed astir really nan nonaccomplishment of immoderate branch whitethorn effect morale and retention for immoderate volunteers,” nan missive said. “It has confirmed conscionable really overmuch section branches and section communities mean to our volunteers.”

But it confirms nan 3 pilots – successful south-east England, Yorkshire and Humberside, and Scotland – would analyse “how to reconfigure branches, considering each options including branch standard up, mergers, coalitions, clusters, relocations, and regrettably wherever needed, closures”.

The kindness argues nan changes, which are apt to lead to fewer, larger location branches, would thief it amended services by enabling much calls to beryllium answered, shortening telephone waits and attracting a wider guidelines of volunteers.

Currently betwixt 70% and 80% of calls are answered, and Samaritans intends to raise this to 90%. Creating fewer, larger, much accessible location branches would pull much volunteers and summation nan measurement of shifts. Some branches person conscionable 10 volunteers while others person 200, Bentley said.

Volunteers said nan section branch closures would make hundreds of volunteers quit because they would not want to aliases beryllium capable to recreation to caller branches, aliases because they would not bask volunteering without nan camaraderie of section connections.

Some volunteers person called for a ballot of no-confidence successful nan Samaritans chair, Keith Leslie, astatine nan charity’s yearly wide gathering successful October. Bentley said this was a “distraction” arsenic nan committee was agreed successful its support for nan plans.

Colm Martin, a Samaritans unpaid successful Kingston-upon-Thames who has helped organise guidance to nan proposals, criticised nan kindness for continuing to connection nary certainty astir nan early for branches and volunteers.

He said nan missive called for changes to nan branch web while failing to reside nan maturation of nan Samaritans non-volunteer paid workforce successful caller years. “This is astir nan continued centralisation of nan Samaritans distant from its unpaid and organization roots,” Martin added.

Many volunteers are besides concerned astir nan information of imaginable moves to let distant telephone handling from home. Remote volunteering is being tested, said Bentley, but it was not seen arsenic replacement to branches and “no unpaid would ever beryllium forced to [answer calls] from home”.

Samaritans has astir 22,000 listening volunteers answering calls and messages from group successful intelligence wellness situation astatine 201 branches crossed nan UK and Ireland. Its helplines person a telephone each 10 seconds, while immoderate branches besides connection face-to-face services and outreach services astatine railway stations.

The Samaritans missive said: “We’re making changes. But what will ne'er alteration is nan spot that Samaritans has arsenic a organization – side-by-side successful a branch aliases online – 1 that is made up of brilliant, compassionate and caring people, built connected a instauration of volunteering.”