Charity says the millions of hours its volunteers donate saves thousands of lives each year

Samaritans has revealed its volunteers give 5.5 million hours of their time every year to save lives across the UK.

To mark Volunteers Week, the charity has said that every six seconds someone contacts it for help or advice.

Across the UK and Republic of Ireland, more than 20,000 volunteers respond to calls, emails and texts, as well as supporting people in workplaces, schools, communities and prisons.

Volunteers also work with the NHS, police and emergency services, as well as fundraising for and running its 201 local bases, known as branches, some of which include shops.

The charity estimates that paid employees would be earning the equivalent of £72m a year.

As Samaritans volunteers, we don’t judge, we’re here for absolutely anyone - Jenni McCartney

Samaritans chair Jenni McCartney has been a volunteer for the charity for more than 30 years. “Life can be tough for anyone, and everyone needs support at some point in their lives," she said. "As Samaritans volunteers, we don’t judge, we’re here for absolutely anyone, and we want people to talk to us before they feel overwhelmed.”

Samaritans volunteers based at its 201 branches work in a variety of roles. They respond to calls, emails, letters and texts, as well as talking to people who call into a branch for support in person. Weekly shifts are usually three or four hours long, with most volunteers doing a number of night shifts across the year.

JK Fouzder is a long-standing volunteer based in Birmingham. He says being a Samaritan is quite simply invaluable: Knowing that you’ve helped someone to make sense of difficult thoughts, that you’ve really listened to what they’re going through and that they’ve felt understood, is the most uplifting, encouraging, life-changing thing. I love doing what I do.”