Samaritans: Worthing Branch Faces Closure as Volunteers Resist
Samaritans volunteers in Worthing are challenging a national plan that would close their branch and shop. The charity says it needs fewer, larger branches to manage rising demand, flat donations and increasing costs, while local volunteers warn that closures risk weakening community support.
Worthing Samaritans volunteers are resisting a planned branch closure in England as the charity prepares to consolidate its UK network. The dispute has turned the local branch into a focal point for opposition to the changes.
Volunteers say the branch is thriving. National leaders argue the charity needs a different structure to meet rising demand and manage higher costs.
Worthing volunteers push back
The Worthing branch has operated for 57 years and has 100 listening volunteers. Its costs are funded by a local Samaritans shop, which is also scheduled to close.
Volunteers were told in an online meeting that both sites would shut in six weeks. They knew the charity had a 10-year closure strategy, but said the decision to close Worthing came as a shock.
“There were a few other people who didn’t hang up … And I just said, wow, is anyone up for a fight?” Carol said after the meeting.
Worthing is one of seven branches earmarked for closure, alongside Grimsby, Orkney, Caithness, Shetland, Scunthorpe and Stornoway. Halifax and Huddersfield are due to close and merge into Bradford, while Inverness and Elgin are set to merge at a new location.
Leaders cite rising pressure
Samaritans’ chief executive, Julie Bentley, has argued that the current branch structure is no longer sustainable. The charity has flatlining donations, rising costs and growing demand for its services, while struggling to maintain its 14,000 listening volunteers.
“The harsh truth is that if we don’t do anything we are going to start to see branches failing, and we can’t let that happen,” Bentley said at an internal meeting of volunteers.
The strategy calls for fewer, larger branches in towns and cities where more potential volunteers are available. That approach means even successful branches with strong local volunteer numbers could close if they are in locations the organization considers unsuitable.
The planned changes would eventually close half of Samaritans’ 200 UK branches. The charity, which provides emotional support and suicide prevention services, says it cannot answer all the calls it receives.
Worthing volunteers Mark and Carol once supported a distressed man who had climbed scaffolding and threatened to jump. Mark stayed on the phone while Carol alerted the man’s local branch; after he came down, they guided him street by street to safety, and a cup of tea was waiting when he reached the branch.
