Renu Thomas is a chartered accountant by day but after work she volunteers at Wellington Samaritans – taking calls from people who need someone to listen.
The first Samaritans centre in New Zealand was set up in Wellington in 1965. Since then, volunteers have taken calls from people in need at the crypt of St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in Thorndon, although Wellington Samaritans is a non-religious service.
Volunteers took about 17,500 calls in the past year – one every 22 minutes – from people experiencing mental distress. This follows research, commissioned by the Mental Health Foundation in February, which found a quarter of New Zealand adults were at risk of struggling with their mental health.
Thomas, who has been volunteering for two years, said she joined Wellington Samaritans because friends and other people she knew had been impacted by suicide.
As of 2020, the suicide rate in New Zealand was 13.01 deaths per 100,000. In the year to June 2020, 654 people died from suicide.
Wanting to do more in the community and to help in the mental health area, Thomas reached out to a friend who told her about some organisations – one of those was Wellington Samaritans.
“I got into it because I felt like I was in a good place in my career and job, but I didn’t have a lot outside my work bubble or things I did for the community,” Thomas said.
First published by Dominion Post. Click here to read the full article.