1. SAMARITANS IN SCHOOLS A Workshop for Students
#### Version 0.2 Date 23/1/13
#### THIS IS A SAMPLE PRESENTATION. Out of the box (i.e. omitting all options), it takes about minutes to go through. There are OPTIONAL sections: to enable these, UNHIDE or HIDE slides in the Slide Sorter View. Be sure to read the Speaker Notes throughout! Some of the OPTIONAL slides are intended to be alternates, don’t try to use all of them!
####There are a number of Audio and Video elements: the files should exist in the same folder as this presentation file – if they are missing then they won’t play!
Thanks for the opportunity to be here
Introduce presenters
Say how long this will take and the arrangements for questions (as we go, or at the end)
Unless you’re very tight for time, this is a good time to ask who has heard of Samaritans, and who thinks they know what we do. Keep it brief, we come back to Samaritans later.
Perhaps just “we’re a charity, we provide emotional support for people who are in distress, including people who are having thoughts of suicide.” We’ll be explaining what we mean by ‘emotional support’ later.

2. WHY ARE WE HERE TODAY? The aim of today is:
Tell you about Samaritans and what we do
How emotional health can affect your wellbeing
The importance of emotional support and where you can go to for help
The value of listening
####Requires audio file “Johnny1.mp3”
Here’s an example of someone that Samaritans might be there for.
Click/Next to play audio – Johnny part 1.
(NB – if this is played, it is ESSENTIAL also to play part 2 at the end of the session)
It’s obvious that Johnny feels so bad that he can’t see another way forward. One of the main reasons that we are here today is to suggest that there can be another way. Life is always worth talking about.
Before going any further I would like to give you a brief idea of what we intend to cover during the session which is:
Explain the principles of Emotional Health
Talk about Listening, and how it is an important part of Emotional Support
Asking for Help
Finally, explain the Samaritan Service

3. TRUST & CONFIDENTIALITY
What might stop you telling someone something personal? Samaritans is a safe place – we keep all our conversations private
We’ll be talking later about who you can talk to, and how we can support each other by listening.
But before we go any further there is a really important point that we need to make right away – about Confidentiality.

4. EMOTIONAL HEALTH… Physical Health Emotional Health Illness/Injury
Healthy/Fit
Emotional Health
Distress
Strength
We generally understand Physical Health – it tends not to vary much from minute to minute, unless we have an accident.
Emotional Health is a bit different – it’s often harder to see how well people are, and it can vary a lot from time to time.
Of course they are not completely separate:
a continuing physical health problem can cause a lot of distress
And a high level of emotional distress can lead to self harm or even suicide
On the subject of suicide: if you call Samaritans we will ask if you are feeling suicidal. Some people think that asking that question might put the idea into someone’s head, but research shows that this is not the case.
If someone says they are, we might ask something like “do you want to die for ever, or just for now?” … in some cases, suicide might be viewed as a long-term solution to a (relatively) short-term problem.
Discussion: what might be some of the causes of poor emotional health?
(examples - relationship problems, family problems, money, work/study stress, self-image…..)
Discussion: what are some of the possible coping strategies that someone might use to help them feel better?
(examples – listen to music, read a book, play a computer game, exercise/sports, spend time with friends…. Self Harm??)

5. FEELINGS – UPS AND DOWNS OF LIFE
UP DOWN
Happy Scared
Proud Worried
Excited Anxious
Now it’s your turn!
Think of a range of feelings

6. Problems People Face Bullying Cyber Bullying Broken relationships
Financial worries
Body image

7. PRESSURES ON YOUNG PEOPLE
Gender/Name:
Family:
Likes:
Problems:
Feelings:
####OPTIONAL SLIDE – A FLIP CHART/WHITEBOARD is very useful here. This activity can take up to 10 minutes####
####If technology permits and you’re feeling brave, you might be able to use a Smart Board to write the answers up, but make sure you’ve practiced this first, including how to wipe off your notes!####
####The idea is to work with the group to create a person with a real life and issues, write down the answers if possible####
Click/Next: We’re going to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes.
Click/Next: Who do the shoes belong to? (Need a gender, and a Name that NO-ONE in the room has – try Sam)
Click/Next: Who do they live with? (Mum, dad, brothers, sisters?)
Click/Next: What does Sam like doing? (e.g. Football, computer games, music, shopping)
Click/Next: What problems might Sam have? (e.g. fat/thin, bullying, stressed, relationship… not too many!!)
Click/Next: What feelings might Sam be experiencing? (e.g. Lonely, Sad, Happy, Anxious… get lots!!)
Discuss: it’s normal to be experiencing a wide variety of different feelings at different times, including some bad feelings from time to time. Problems arise when someone feels low for too long and can’t get back on an even keel… this is what we call Emotional Health and we’ll be coming back to that in a bit. We’ll also be talking about how we can help Sam deal with the difficult feelings.

8. SPOTTING SOMEONE UPSET
Hygiene
Appearance
Grumpy
Angry
Withdrawn
Low-spirited
Self-harming
Eating
less/more
Smoking
Drinking
Drugs
Crying
Tired
No energy
####OPTIONAL ####
If Emotional Health issues are less obvious than Physical Health issues, how might you realise that a friend is not in a good way?
Ask for suggestions first.
Then bring on the examples here (8 … 1 per Click/Next), most of which should have been identified by the group. Make the point that often what we’re looking for is a CHANGE in someone’s behaviour.
NOTE: the first 6 to come up are all indications that someone MIGHT be in trouble – the last two to come up, Self Harm and Eating Disorders are pretty clear statements that someone HAS a problem and needs some help.

9. Who Do You Talk To? What makes someone good to talk to?
Why do you talk to them?
What about Help Lines?

10. WHO ARE SAMARITANS?
People talk to us any time they like, in their own way, and off the record – about whatever’s getting to them. They don’t have to be suicidal.
Pick out the key points about Samaritans service:
At any time (24/7)
In their own way (without being judged)
Off the record (it’s confidential)
Don’t have to be suicidal (only about 20% of our phone callers are)
We provide Emotional Support for anyone, anytime.

11. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CALL SAMARITANS?
####Requires video file “Danny.wmv”
Click/Next to play the Danny video.
Summarise: You’ll have heard Danny say that he was feeling very low, but that he got support just by having someone listen to him.
When did he say he called? (3am)
Bring out: we really are there 24/7, a lot of people call us at night partly because it’s a tough time and partly because other sources of support (friends, family, official organisations) aren’t available.
Danny’s story

12. WHY DO PEOPLE CALL? Because they need to talk!
(photo of young person on phone)
Because they need to talk!
Discussion: what are some of the reasons why people might call Samaritans for Emotional Support?
(sample answers – relationships, bullying, health problems, feeling stressed, family breakup….)
Click/Next
We don’t actually worry too much about the situation that someone might be in – we focus much more on how someone is feeling about it. What matters is how someone is feeling about themselves at that time.
Remember that different people will react to similar situations in very different ways – some will cope, others won’t.
ALSO – it may help to remember that if someone is in distress there are two distinct things to think about: (1) the situation they are in and (2) their response to it. As Samaritans we can’t fix (1): there maybe someone else who can help fix it, or maybe no-one can. We focus on (2), the response.
Generally speaking, people don’t take their own lives because of the situation they are in: they take their own lives because they can’t cope with the situation they are in. We aim to help people cope.

13. HOW TO CONTACT SAMARITANS
Phone
Face to Face
Text
Write
####Phone numbers etc have been omitted from this slide to help keep it universal – you can edit in the numbers for your country/branch if you want. However, if you give one of the national phone numbers then you MUST add the footnote “Please see our website for latest call charges”####
If you have time, you could ask for some reasons why some people might prefer to use , text or letter.
“Face to Face” could be by visiting us in a branch, or at a Festival or in some other public places – like on the street.
Point out that we typically take several hours to respond to an – it depends on the time of day and how busy we are. But we aim to respond to texts within an hour.
If the cost of phoning is a problem, we’ll always call back.
[NB – don’t repeat the fallacy that 0845 is a “local call” … the cost will vary randomly depending on the caller’s contract. There are some rates given on our website]

14. Usual opening hours to receive callers at the door
YOUR LOCAL BRANCH…
Rotherham Samaritans
22 Percy Street
Rotherham S65 1ED
Telephone
Usual opening hours to receive callers at the door
Various, please call in advance
Branch website
####OPTIONAL SLIDE. But customise it for your branch before using!
Describe where the branch is. Don’t need an appointment but you can ring to check that we are open before travelling (make sure you are through to the branch you think you’re calling as you may have been diverted)

15. ANY QUESTIONS? 01924 377011 (local) 08457 90 90 90* (UK)
(UK)
visit us at
Charlotte Street Wakefield WF1 1UL
ZIA’S STORY
*Please see our website for latest call charges
####NOTE: edit contact details as required
Leave this slide up while taking questions and wrapping up – you never know who might be taking a note!
Don’t forget to leave enough time to hand out – and get back – individual feedback sheets.
Finally, thank everyone for their support and contributions.