But he added that the charity relied on donations and if they did not keep increasing, services could be at risk in 10 years. It adds that five million working days are lost a year in the UK due to stress, depression and anxiety. Samaritans has 19,600 volunteers who man phonelines and do outreach work, such as visiting schools to tell children of the importance of talking about problems. In Scotland, where a suicide is committed every 10 hours, there is a need for an extra thousand volunteers. Farmers are said to be particularly vulnerable, along with vets, doctors and dentists - all stressful jobs with the medical knowledge of how to succeed with suicide.
Volunteers offer support to prisoners deemed to be at risk of suicide.
The charity is launching a report called The Cost of Living on Friday which shows that, if each of its volunteer was paid a minimum wage, it would add an extra 11m to its running costs. Last year, charitable donations enabled 19,600 Samaritan volunteers to give 3.1 million hours of listening. We couldn't do it without the public. A survey showed the public would pay an average of 3.81 extra a month to keep Samaritans going. The charity hopes its advertising campaign will help get that money coming in.