THEY provide a listening ear for those in the depths of despair.

For those who feel they have nowhere to turn, or when life simply doesn’t feel like living anymore, they are a comfort during that important phone call.

Since the Samaritans was set up in London in 1953 as a service responding to those in need by a vicar, Chad Varah, the charity has continued to expand to meet a growing demand.

Whether the caller is suffering with mental health issues, battling with depression or simply feels the need to pick up the phone as they have no one else to talk to and life really is getting them down, the Samaritans are always ready to listen.

They are non-judgemental and conversations are strictly confidential - that is the way volunteers have always operated but, in addition to manning the phones, they are also busy raising the charity’s profile by providing a very real presence out on the streets.

Previously, volunteers from the Bradford Samaritans branch have accompanied the city’s Street Angels, providing a presence in the city on an evening for those who may need someone to talk to and, more recently, the charity became involved with Network Rail in 2010.

Austin, deputy director of recruitment at the Bradford branch where he has been a volunteer for 20 years, explains the charity began working with Network Rail to help reduce the number of suicides on the line.

Since the Samaritans began working with the company, the charity has trained more than 13,000 railway staff to spot and intervene to help vulnerable people.

And the partnership has proved affective. Austin explains their role with the railway involves Bradford volunteers working with staff at Forster Square station in the city.

As part of the Samaritans’ work with Network Rail, the charity’s contact details also feature on the back of train tickets so people who are feeling low know there is help at hand.

The Samaritans has always carried out outreach work but, in addition to its initiative with Network Rail - including the We Listen Campaign, which was supported by Network Rail and the wider railway industry, the charity also runs the Step by Step programme.

Delivered nationally, the programme is run by specially trained volunteers who go into schools where there has been a suicide. They work alongside everyone in school, guiding them through a difficult and traumatic time. It is understood the charity may be planning to deliver the programme in higher education too.

As always, the charity relies largely on donations and legacies to continue its vital work.

Such generosity is particularly paramount for local branches, as Austin explains.

“Stuff like all that would not happen if it wasn’t for local branches and that is always the key to it,” he said.

“It (the charity) has a huge local presence and it is supported by the community we work in.”

One of the biggest sources of funding - which has helped to keep the Bradford branch ticking over for the past 20 years - is the Samaritans charity shop.

Based in Westgate, Shipley, the shop closed briefly in August for a refurbishment and will re-open again at 10am on Tuesday.

“It has more or less kept the branch going,” says Austin.

“It is vital to us.”

He explains how the shop is run by a group of volunteers, but the proceeds from the shop sales, along with the donations and legacies they often receive - one generous legacy from an anonymous benefactor enabled them to purchase a new van for their outreach work - is enabling them to continue providing such an important service.

“It is possibly somebody we may have helped or they have a relative we have helped,” explains Austin, referring to the legacies they receive.

What is apparent is demand on the service continues to increase. “Over the last 12 months we have averaged 1800 calls per month at Bradford, this is up by 28 per cent on the previous 12 months,” says Austin.

“Our service has been growing. We have never reached that utopia where we get less calls than a year before.

“Life is more stressful now than it was 60 years ago. We are all under a lot more pressure, even children are under pressure to perform at school or perform at college and at university and it is a never-ending cycle.

“Surprisingly when we work outside the branch you are talking to people who wouldn’t normally have rung us so it is the tip of the iceberg really.”

For more information call the Samaritans’ free helpline and in confidence on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org.uk.