International Reach
Through its email service, Samaritans' work has extended well beyond the UK and Ireland, as messages are received from all around the world.
Samaritans' international reach is through Befrienders Worldwide, an organisation of over 400 centres in 38 countries offering similar activities. Samaritans took on and renamed the Befrienders International network in 2003, a year after it collapsed. Some members of Befrienders Worldwide also use the name Samaritans; this includes centres in the USA, India, Hong Kong, Serbia and Zimbabwe, among others.
The Volunteer Emotional Support Helplines (VESH) combines Samaritans (through Befrienders Worldwide) with the other 2 largest international services (IFOTES & Lifeline), and plans a combined international network of helplines. In their roles as emotional support service networks, they have all agreed to develop a more effective and robust international interface.
See also
- Dublin Samaritans
- The Samaritans Hong Kong (Multilingual Service)
- The Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong
- Samaritans of Singapore
- Samaritans USA - this was formed in 2005 when Samaritans of Boston (established 1974) joined forces with their Framingham branch. Samaritans is also a certified member of Contact USA (a Lifeline International member). There are Samaritans offices in other regions of Massachusetts and the U.S. operating independently with a common mission and philosophy.
Read more about this topic: Samaritans (charity)
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