Would you like to be able to help those going through tough times and who may be struggling to cope. Samaritans are looking for students who are open-minded and non-judgmental to become Listening Volunteers for their phone and online chat service, where you will be supporting people who need someone to listen too. This amazing opportunity will be based at dedicated Samaritans sites at Chelmsford and Cambridge campuses at ARU.
How do I find out more
We will ask you to join a welcome session to find out more and then attend an interview. Following the interview, if you are selected, you will need to complete Samaritan’s training.
Training will be held online via Zoom.
Once you have finished your training Samaritans would like you to commit to this role for a year. Ideally you would be able to volunteer weekly, however a minimum contribution would be 3 hours every fortnight. We aim to be as flexible as we can around shift times whilst ensuring we meet the needs of our callers.
What it’s like being a Listening Volunteer
- It’s always different and always interesting – no two conversations are the same.
- It feels like a privilege to have people confiding in you.
- You’re never on your own, a supportive atmosphere in our hub.
- You can take a break between conversations whenever you need to.
Benefit of Becoming a Listening Volunteer
- Improve your CV
- Give something back to your local community and change peoples’ lives
- Develop new listening and communication skills you can use in all aspects of your life
As well as our Listening Volunteer role, we also have an IT Support Volunteer role available.
For more information and how to apply, click the 'Send me application details' button.