Samaritans branches across the Midlands are to benefit from a
donation made by local building society the West Brom.
The £1,000 gift will go towards implementing the charity's
new caller contact system in the region, Samaritans Connect, which
will allow volunteers to answer an additional 100,000 calls each
year.
Samaritans is available 24 hours a day to provide support for
people that might not have anywhere else to turn.
The Connect project will revolutionise the way calls are
answered by fitting branches with new computers and a
state-of-the-art technology system.
Rachel Kirby-Rider, Director of Fundraising and Communications
at Samaritans, said: "We are grateful to the West Brom for this
generous donation which will go towards implementing a new system
for people contacting Samaritans.
"It will help our local branches to answer more calls from
people who are struggling to cope."
The West Brom's donation was made through the Mercian Trust, a
partnership between the Society and the Diocese of Lichfield to
support community groups and charitable causes in the region.
Stephen Leonard, the West Brom's Divisional Director, said: "As
a leading regional building society with strong links to the
communities we serve, we aim to assist local projects and charities
wherever we can.
"Samaritans provides a vital service for people who have no one
else they can turn to and we are pleased to help widen its
availability."
Last year Samaritans volunteers responded to more than five
million calls across the UK and Republic of Ireland. Every
day the charity receives 13,000 calls from people in desperate
need.