THEY are there to help us cope - whatever the circumstances.

Founded in London in 1953, the Samaritans was the brainchild of the vicar, Chad Varah who having offered counselling to his parishioners throughout his career, wanted something more specific to help people struggling to cope and possibly contemplating suicide.

Today the charity operates out of 201 branches throughout the UK and the Republic of Ireland and the need has never been greater.

According to figures from 2014 recently released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Women's suicide has reached the highest rate since 2005, an increase of 14 per cent since the previous year. Throughout the UK 113 more women took their own lives than in the previous year.

While the figures also show a slight drop in male suicide across the UK, they remain the most high risk group and are three times more likely to die by suicide than women. Men aged 45 to 59 are still the group with the highest suicide.

Samaritans CEO Ruth Sutherland, says: "It’s of great concern to see an indication of an increase in female suicide. Samaritans’ goal is that fewer people die by suicide and these figures help us to be more targeted in our work and reinforce the need for all agencies, the police, prisons, schools and NHS to work together to reduce death by suicide."

In 2014, 6,122 suicides were registered in the UK, compared with 6,242 in 2013.This is a rate of 10.8 per 100,000 overall for the UK and 16.8 per 100,000 for men and 5.2 per 100,000 for women.

The figures are indicative of the fact that the role of the Samaritans remains as vital today as when it initially launched, but the delivery of the service is also dependent on its volunteers.

A decade ago, Bradford's Samaritans branch had around 100 volunteers. Today it has 70. While the number of volunteers has dramatically reduced, the demand remains.

Austin joined the branch in 1996. "I had been through a pretty bad time myself and came out the other side and you get to that point in your life where you think you need to give something back," he explains.

"What I liked about the Samaritans, and made me come to the Samaritans, is we are a charity that do the job. It is not raising funds and rattling tins - you are doing the job and you are working right at the front end and it is that kind of feeling that you are actually doing something."

After leaving his day job, Austin starts his three hour shift at the Samaritans. The need for so-called 'night owls' - volunteers who can work from 11pm until 4am - is imperative.

"We are really actively trying to recruit our night owls," says Austin.

He says the shortage of night-time volunteers isn't exclusive to Bradford and is a national problem. While it is a critical time slot to cover, they often have insufficient volunteers covering a period which is generally busy with callers.

"What we do know, and it isn't just Bradford, but generally we know that suicide is the biggest killer of males between 18 and 45," explains Austin.

"There are a number of reasons that we have identified. Men generally don't talk about their feelings; men tend to use their partners for emotional support whereas women will use a group of friends for emotional support, and if the relationship breaks down then for the man the emotional support has gone.

"There is also a lot of pressure - redundancies - we are moving away from an industrialised society and it is those male jobs that are disappearing."

But the role of a Samaritan isn't to advise. This confidential service involves providing a listening ear and being there for that person and, as part of that, Austin says they are hoping to do more outreach work within the community.

Previously they have worked with the Street Angels in Bradford but Austin says they are looking at having a presence in places such as the city centre and A&E departments within the city's hospitals and even custody suites. "We are trying to build up those partnerships," explains Austin.

"We are trying to get ourselves out there more."

For more information about the Samaritans call 01274 547547 or visit samaritans.org