Ardonagh Community Trust announces new charity partnership with Samaritans

Ardonagh Community Trust (ACT), the registered charity of The Ardonagh Group, is thrilled to announce a new charity partnership with Samaritans.

Samaritans’ vision is that fewer people die by suicide. Every day, Samaritans responds to around 10,000 calls for help from people struggling to cope.

Established in 1953, with the aim to listen confidentially and without judgement, the charity has grown with over 20,000 volunteers based in 201 branches across the UK and Ireland responding to calls for help from people by phone, email, letter and face-to-face (currently suspended due to coronavirus).

Samaritans is not only there for a moment of crisis; they’re taking action to prevent the moment of crisis. Samaritans work with local communities to take preventative action by supporting people from all walks of life. They give people ways to cope, the skills to be there for others and, encourage and celebrate those moments of connection between people that can save lives.

To kick off the partnership, ACT is delighted to donate £25,000 to Samaritans, equivalent to funding 5,000 potentially life-changing calls for help.

With the pandemic bringing renewed focus to the importance of mental health and supporting those in need, ACT’s trustees agreed using the scale and power of The Ardonagh Group to have a positive impact on this universal cause was essential alongside the continuation of match funding, community grants and volunteering for causes close to the hearts of all employees.

Championing awareness, education and support for mental health has been a huge part of Ardonagh’s history to date and is something our colleagues continue to show incredible passion for. Like our portfolio of businesses, Samaritans’ origins and services today are rooted in the local community, making it the ideal fit for our next charitable partnership for the Group’s footprint across the UK and Ireland. There’s no doubt we have all felt the mental health impacts of the pandemic over the past 12 months, so we’re proud to be supporting Samaritans in their mission to make sure there is someone there for anyone struggling to cope through the powers of human connection, conversation and listening.

David Ross, The Ardonagh Group CEO and ACT Trustee

Samaritans' free listening service provides support and signposting when it matters most, all provided by a fleet of listening volunteers.

Over the next 18 months, ACT will aim to:

• Champion fundraising opportunities to help Samaritans continue to be there for anyone struggling to cope in ways that they are most comfortable with, including phone, email, letter and a new online chat service pilot.
  
  
• Help Ardonagh employees across the UK and Ireland take advantage of Ardonagh’s paid volunteering leave scheme in 2021 by sharing ways to get involved through both skills-based and traditional volunteering opportunities
  
  
• Continue to support our people and their wider networks by helping to reduce the stigma of asking for help and reminding them of the services that are available both with Samaritans and those in place internally throughout the Group.

The pandemic has tested everyone’s resilience. Samaritans is needed now more than ever. This partnership will help us to continue to be there for anyone struggling to cope, whatever they’re facing. Samaritans responds to around 10,000 calls for help from people struggling to cope every single day. We are so grateful to Ardonagh Community Trust for their incredibly generous donation of £25,000 which will help us continue to be there to listen.

Samaritans

For more information

• Read more about the work of the trust on the ACT website
• Visit the Samaritans website

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