A SAMARITAN will walk 6,000 miles as he attempts to help the people who need it most in every corner of the country.
Volunteer David Matthews will arrive in Barnsley on the fourth stage of a mammoth challenge to work a shift at every Samaritans branch in the UK, before moving onto the Republic of Ireland.
“I’ve been inspired to undertake the walk about five or six years ago by a Samaritan who travelled around on his motorbike with huge panniers and high-vis clothing,” said David, 58. “He was going around to the different branches and all he was doing was raising awareness.
“I thought that was a really good thing and so it got me thinking that I could do something like that.
“I then thought that I might do similar on a bike but not being a huge cyclist I then pondered how I might do it and which branches I might visit.
“So I began to look on Google Maps at the branches and realised that there was almost a natural route between the branches that would lead neatly onto the next one with no need to double back for instance. A route which I could walk.”
David set off on the ‘listening walk’, which he hopes will raise awareness of Samaritans and the vital service it offers, from the Doncaster branch at which he began volunteering ten years ago, on Monday.
“I thought that I could start and finish in Doncaster and reckoned it would take about two years to go to every branch,” said David, who lives in the Knoydart peninsula in Scotland. “For a few years I have thought maybe this year, maybe this year.
“Then this last year I thought, if I am ever going to do it, I need to do it soon as I’m not getting any younger and I have a bit more time now.
“There is also the issue of mental health problems and increasing suicides. I felt compelled to do it sooner rather than later.”
David, who grew up in Maltby and later founded the Dearne Valley Weekender newspaper, is aiming to raise £100,000 in sponsorship, and to recruit 1,000 new Samaritans volunteers along the way.
Once he has worked a shift at Barnsley, responding to calls, emails and texts, David will move onto Wakefield to complete a shift there.
The schedule for the walk and details on how to donate can be found at www.thelisteningwalk.co.uk, and people are welcome to join David on his journey.
Samaritans can be contacted 24 hours a day, every day of the year by phone on 116123 or by email at jo@samaritans.org.
