To provide our community with a service that is available 24 hours a day to provide confidential and emotional support to anyone who maybe experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which may lead to suicide.

The Samaritans of Basildon and Thurrock are a vital part of the local community. It provides an emotional support service that is open 24/7 so that people can explore their thoughts and feelings with our specially trained local volunteers. We believe that being listened to in confidence and accepted without prejudice can alleviate despair and suicidal feelings.

Everyone needs to be listened to at some point in their lives and by talking through your thoughts and feelings things don't usually seem as bad. It does help to talk things through with a stranger, someone who is not involved. We provide this service in four ways; by telephone, face to face visits, by an email service and lastly by letter. From January 2013 we will also be providing a text and SMS service.