Causeway Coast and Glens venues to light up green for Samaritans ‘Longest Night’ campaign

Landmarks across the province, including Coleraine Council’s headquarters at Cloonavin and Roe Park Resort will light up in green this Thursday (December 21) to mark Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year.

The longest night marks the start of the Festive season and lighting local landmarks green gives everyone a chance to reflect and an opportunity for Samaritans to remind everyone that the charity is on hand for anyone who may be struggling.

Christmas may be a time for festive cheer, but it can also be a particularly hard time especially as the cost of living continues to bite, leaving many people facing difficult decisions to cope with their ever-stretched finances.

Last year Samaritans volunteers in Northern Ireland answered nearly 10,000 calls over the Christmas period with the average length of a call on Christmas Day being 25 minutes.

Those calls, which Samaritans believe will rise this year, were from people struggling to cope with mental health, relationship issues, financial problems or feelings of loneliness and isolation.

Kenneth Bleakley, Director of Samaritans Coleraine Branch said: “Last year nearly 100 volunteers in Northern Ireland gave up time with their families and friends on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to be there for people who needed someone to listen. This year especially, we want to remind everyone that volunteers across all eight branches will be available 24/7 over the Christmas period.”

Explaining what it means to volunteer on Christmas Day Samaritan Volunteer, Linda, said: “I have always volunteered on Christmas Day since joining Samaritans. From personal experience I know that events such as Christmas, anniversaries and birthdays can be the most difficult times so I feel these are the most important times to be available for our callers.”

Linda continued: “Samaritans provide an emotional support system for a variety of callers over the Christmas period. This can be an extremely lonely time for people who are on their own, those who have lost someone close to them or are coping with an illness. This time of year is often seen as a time of joy; however, the problems and challenges that people are facing don’t go away just because it’s Christmas. Some people just need to know that there is someone there on the other end of the phone to speak to.”