It is usually The Samaritans who have members of the community approaching them to seek help. At the moment, though, it is The Samaritans themselves who are having to ask for help from the community to enable them to fully meet the demands on their organisation.

The local branch is short staffed. Resources are very stretched. In fact, according to a spokesman, they are "quite desperate for new volunteers to man the phones in Bradford".

The Samaritans fulfil a vital function in a world in which an increasing number of people feel isolated, confused and distressed. It is a grim indictment of the state of society that last year volunteers in Bradford helped 23,311 people. Most desperately needed to talk to someone and in the absence of a friend or relative turned to a stranger on the end of a telephone line.

The Christmas and New Year period is apparently a particularly difficult time for many people, with a big increase in calls to The Samaritans. Feelings of loneliness increase when everyone else appears to be having a good time.

This is traditionally a time of giving, so it is fitting that The Samaritans should have chosen it to appeal to Bradford people to make one of the important gifts of all - of their time. Not a lot of it is needed: just three hours a week and one over-night duty a month to listen with patience and sympathy while other people talk their way through problems they are unable to discuss with anyone else - problems which may not seem anything like as overwhelming once they have been shared.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.