History

The Samaritans had its origins in the UK in 1953. Roused by the suicide of a teenage girl who had no one to turn to, the Reverend Chad Varah, invited people who needed help with their personal problems to receive counselling from him at his church. Many people came and waited patiently in the pews to talk with him. Seeing the number of people queuing up, Chad set up a roster of parish people to provide tea for them while they waited. However, by the time many of the people came to talk with him, he found that they were already feeling reassured and worked out ways of managing their problems because they had been talking to the people who had been providing the tea. These good people had listened sympathetically while individuals in the pews had talked to them, clarifying their problems, and working out how they could manage them.

Perth

“Hello Samaritans…”

The first time this was said over the telephone in WA was 23 July 1967. In response to increasing service demands, a branch was also established in Albany in 1977.
The Samaritans has been providing 24 hour telephone access to suicidal and despairing people in WA for over 40 years. Since then over 620, 000 calls have been taken by the Perth branch alone.