Waterford Samaritans celebrated the official re-opening

Wednesday, 30th May 2012

Waterford Samaritans celebrated the official re-opening of their refurbished Beau Street offices with the city and county mayors jointlY cutting the red ribbon.

City Mayor Cllr Pat Hayes and his County counterpart, Cllr Liam Brazil were joined by fellow councillors Davy Daniels, Jack Walsh and Pat Fitzgerald representing both city and county local authorities.

The officials were welcomed by Samaritan's new Director, Ann Barron and the Chair of the branch, Maura Saddington, along with serving and retired volunteers. Waterford & South East Samaritans opened their first branch in the region in 1976 on Waterside, and moved to Beau Street in 1984. The branch currently has over a hundred volunteer staff, who respond to an average of 16,000 contacts per year.

The refurbishment work was carried out primarily to make the centre more accessible for disabled visitors and volunteers, and was entirely funded by Samaritans through their own local fundraising efforts.

The Waterford branch of Samaritans is one of 20 branches in Ireland, and is one of the longest established on this island. The branch is open every day from 9am to 9pm for personal callers, and the volume of contacts through telephone calls, personal calls, e-mails and texts has risen notably due to recent economic difficulties. This increase has been recorded in all branches of the charity both in Ireland and the UK.

Samaritans relies entirely on donations, and receives no direct funding from central government. Anybody interested in making a donation to Samaritans, or indeed getting involved with the organisation in any capacity is invited to log onto our web page (http://www.samaritans.ie) for further information.

Samaritan volunteers are available to callers 24hours EVERY day on 1850 60 90 90; by e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , by text 0872 60 90 90 or by calling in to see us in any of our branches countrywide.

Pictured is Mayor of Waterford Cllr. Pat Hayes and County Mayor, Liam Brazil cutting the ribbon to open the refurbished Samaritans at Beau Street, Waterford. Included are Cllr.'s Davy Daniels and Jackie Walsh, Maura Saddington, Chair, Waterford and SE Samaritans, Ann Barron, Director, Waterford and SE Samaritans, Bridgit Duggan and Michael Whelan, Samaritans.