Busy Christmas Ahead for the Local Samaritans
Volunteering continues alongside festive fundraising activities
Ealing Samaritans supporters singing carols at Ealing Broadway Station. Picture: Roger Green
December 11, 2024
A busy Christmas is in prospect for the Ealing, Hammersmith & Hounslow Samaritans with fundraising activities taking place alongside existing volunteering responsibilities.
The west London branch of the charity is selling special Christmas cards and carol singing at Ealing Broadway station on Thursday 19 December.
David Arch, co-director of the Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow Samaritans branch said, “All of this activity is to support the service being offered 365 days a year by our 120 volunteers. Winter can be a hard time for many and this year could be especially so, as households brace themselves for higher bills. A call to 116 123 means that there is no need to struggle alone.”
Christmas cards in aid of branch funds are being sold in the Ealing Charity Christmas Card Shop at the Church of Christ the Saviour, New Broadway, Ealing, W5 2XA.
The charity is also being supported by the residents of Castle Road in Isleworth who are decorating their windows for the third year in a row this Christmas.
They are celebrating Christmas with front-window advent calendars lighting up the street. Every day, from the 1 to 24 December, one of the houses unveils its advent day number.
An accompanying poster campaign encourages visitors to Castle Road to make a donation.
Advent calendar windows in Castle Road
One of residents of Castle Road is a volunteer with Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow Samaritans. She explained, “We first had the idea during one of our street parties, chatting about how we could come together both in the winter as well as the summer and the Castle Road Advent Calendar was born.
“We have raised over £3,200 in the past two years, for a London homelessness charity and for a local food bank in Hounslow. This year we decided to support our local Samaritans branch.”
She added, “I've lived in Castle Road for 20 years and it's the best street in the world!”
Volunteers from the South Ealing-based Samaritans branch will join over 200 other Samaritans branches across the UK and Ireland who’ll be on duty around the clock over the festive season to answer calls for help from people feeling overwhelmed this winter.
Every 10 seconds, Samaritans responds to a call for help, offering emotional support by phone and email. Anyone can contact Samaritans FREE any time from any phone on 116 123, even from a mobile without credit. This number won’t show up on your phone bill. Or you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit www.samaritans.org/ealing for more information.
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