The new director of Bradford Samaritans has made an appeal for new volunteers.

Sue Harrison, a Samaritan for more than six years, has taken over as director of the Bradford branch and hopes to increase the amount of life-saving volunteers staffing their centre.

The branch is having to close its doors and divert incoming calls to other branches for several hours a week due to volunteer shortages despite the fact that demand is increasing for the service.

Last year the Bradford branch received 20,000 contacts, the equivalent for 55 a day.

Mrs Harrison, said: "We want to get back to the stage when we are contactable 24-hours a day.

"People who volunteer for the Samaritans do so for many reasons. Some want to give something back while others just want to get involved in social work.

"We have an excellent training programme for our volunteers and all staff get to benefit from an excellent support network.

"A lot of people see the Samaritans as a helpline only for people who are suicidal but our volunteers are there for everyone who is having emotional problems.

"It's not just people who have hit rock bottom we want to help, we want to be able to catch people on the way down too.

"It is not something for everyone but it allows everyone to make a difference do something useful."

As the new director of the service, Mrs Harrison said she particularly wanted to target Bradford's vulnerable young

people.

According to Samaritan figures, one in ten teenagers are affected by depression and 38 per cent of adults admitted to experiencing stress, anxiety and depression.

The Samaritan's research also shows that one in ten people felt so lonely that there was no one they could turn to for help. It is this group the charity is trying to reach out to the most.

Mrs Harrison, who worked as a social worker for 20 years before joining the Samaritans, said that the charity offers callers the chance to talk through their problems and come up with their own solutions.

"We do not offer any advice or pressure and the caller has control. They can talk to us about whatever they want."

As well as the telephone service, the Samaritans also offers a face-to-face service at its centre in Manningham. It also hopes to soon offer an e-mail and text service to people in Bradford.

The Samaritans is running two informal information sessions for potential volunteers this week. They take place at 7.30pm today and tomorrowThurs September 8 at its centre at 6 Mornington Villas, Manningham. To contact the Samaritans call (01274) 547547.