Samaritans line ends

ENDING: Rae McKinnon mans the phones at Samaritans. PICTURE / PAUL BROOKS

After 36 years, Whanganui Samaritans, the helping hand at the end of the telephone line, is closing on Friday.
Co-ordinating director (D1) Rae McKinnon says Samaritans' head office in Wellington changed their phone service provider and that's when the problems began.
"They've taken out a two year contract and the provider seems to be having a problem rerouting the 0800 number everywhere throughout the country. Anyone who now calls the 0800 number is directed straight to Wellington."
Each Samaritans' office has a local number and an 0800 number. The 0800 was automatically routed to the caller's nearest office, so people in the Whanganui district would be able to speak to a Whanganui person, whichever number they called. That has now stopped and Wellington now receives those calls. That has effectively reduced the number of calls to the Whanganui office dramatically and it's not worth carrying on with just the local number operating.
Rae has been involved with Samaritans for 20 years, 16 years as D1. They lease a purpose built area of St Paul's Presbyterian offices on the corner of Guyton and Cooks streets, with meeting space, utilities, bathroom with shower, lounge and two phone booths with closing doors for privacy. Samaritans provided the furnishings. Rae says it would make an ideal flat for someone wanting to live in town.
"We've got 11 Samaritans at the moment," says Rae, "but we're all getting on. "We're also no longer going to get the funding. We're funded by Ministry of Social Development and they're going to cut a lot of the funding. We won't get it next year because it's based on the number of calls.
"We would get 10 to 12 calls a day (on the 0800 number) and when we did an overnight from 10pm until 9am, with two on the shift, we could get up to 40 calls. That's because we'd take all the branches' calls when they switched their phones to us."
Those calls will now go to Wellington.
"It's just one of these things that happen and we can't do anything about it."
There are regular callers who use the phone for company, but Rae says they will ask other agencies in town to call them and engage in conversation.
Samaritans began operating on Monday, February 18, 1980, in what was the Commercial Travellers' Club on the corner of St Hill St and Taupo Quay.
A year later, at the first Samaritans AGM, there were 59 active Samaritan volunteers. At the end of that year the offices and phones moved to rooms above the Citizens Advice Building next to St Paul's.
Samaritans generally value their anonymity, so most people would be surprised to know how many well-known Whanganui citizens have manned the phones.
In 1980 Samaritans celebrated 30 years of service with a do at the racecourse. A photo album exists of the occasion.
Samaritans had a final get-together and afternoon tea last Saturday. The final step would be to find a home for the Samaritans archives.