Samaritans calls for firms to help roll out SMS service to help vulnerable young people
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The charity wants to launch its text service nationwide to reach out to young people in distress and offer a new form of confidential emotional support that adapts to people's lifestyles on the move. In order to do this Samaritans needs a strategic corporate partner to help deliver this innovative new project.
Samaritans text service offers a unique arena for young people to express feelings they are not able to share with family or friends, helping them to avoid isolation and feel more able to cope at difficult times, in line with Samaritans vision for a society in which fewer people die by suicide.
Over 10,000 texts a month have been received from people in distress since the pilot project began in 2006, with 63% of contact from people aged 10-24-years-old. If the charity is able to launch the service nationally there would be a projected rise of up to 1,000 texts a day by 2010 - that's one text every two minutes, every hour of the day.
With today's ever-more isolated society Samaritans wants to reach out to high risk groups, including young people and those who are socially excluded, and the new text messaging project will ensure that Samaritans' emotional support service is available to everyone, anywhere, 24 hours a day. One young person told Samaritans: "Feel so down n dont know who 2 turn 2. Dont think i can cope anymore cos things at home are realy getin 2 me. Plz help cos i dont know what 2 do." Another wrote: "The text service has been my saviour. Sometimes I feel that if I hadn't been in touch with Samaritans I may have killed myself."
Professor Helen Haste, author of ‘Joined up texting: the role of the mobile phone in young people's lives', Nestle Social Research Programme, said: "Texting is replacing speech for much communication among young people. It is immediate, accessible, and private and gives them unprecedented control over how they communicate with friends and family'.
As the UK's leading emotional health charity, Samaritans has 96% brand awareness and supports 5.2 million contacts a year by phone, email, letter and face to face at branches as well as eight music festivals. To increase this reach even further the charity needs help to develop vital support by text messaging.
In return for corporate support companies will benefit from an enhanced brand profile, regular national and regional positive publicity and an enhanced Corporate Social Responsibility profile.
Alan Harper, Chair of Trustees for The Vodafone UK Foundation, which sponsored Samaritans email service for three years, said: "We have been delighted to be working with Samaritans to ensure relevant communication for young people which we hope will ultimately reduce suicide and self-harm amongst this age group. The results of the partnership over three years has been very impressive- 165,000 worth of media coverage; £900,000 investment achieving over £4.1 million ad space; 100 million public reach carrying TVUK logo; and the email campaign which won an advertising award.
To find out more about becoming a partner with Samaritans for this life-changing project please contact Hazel Norval, Head of Corporate Fundraising with Samaritans. Telephone 0208 394 8281 or email h.norval@samaritans.org.
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