County Hall in Taunton shone a ‘shining a light’ on the great work of The Samaritans in preventing suicide this week.

The historic building shone a green solar light on Monday night (24th July ) to show support for the ‘round the clock’ work The Samaritans carry out to prevent suicide.

The charity’s national 24/7 campaign highlights how volunteers are ‘always there’ to offer support to people in distress, giving them a physical and emotional safe place to talk at any time.

Figures from The Samaritans show that volunteers answered over 40,000 calls last year from Taunton with volunteers putting in 580 hours of their own time to help those who are in distress or despair, including those who are suicidal.

Councillor Christine Lawrence, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Public Health and Wellbeing at Somerset County Council said:  “If you know of someone in distress, encourage them to contact Samaritans directly using the free phone number 116123.

“This is by far the most effective way to access emotional support as it puts them in control of the conversation. Alternatively, you can contact Samaritans yourself and ask them to ring the person about whom you are concerned.  Samaritans will then contact them to offer support but will not share the outcome of this conversation with you since all calls to Samaritans remain confidential.”