Cornwall Samaritans had a Ball

A Cornwall-wide charity smashed its fundraising target with its anniversary celebrations this month.

The Samaritans of Cornwall at Truro held its 50th Anniversary Ball and Charity Auction on Saturday 11th November at the Eden Project, to raise funds for its life-saving and life-changing services.

With a pre-event target of £5,000, the event raised over £10,000 from ticket sales, an auction and raffle; plus a donation to start the night of £5000 generously presented by Kallis Solicitors.

Sue Wilkins, Director of Cornwall Samaritans said:

“We are delighted. As an independently registered charity, we must raise all our own funds locally to provide our services here in Cornwall. Our Ball featured an auction and raffle with wonderful prizes thanks to Cornish Spliced, Cornish Wave Surf School, Kallis Solicitors, Josie Purcell, Porthilly Shellfish, Naturally Learning, Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, Helston Railway, John Dane, Steins The Seafood, Carbis Bay Hotel and Estate, St Austell Brewery, Anna Clagett at Highcliffe, Duchy Nursery, Bodmin Plant and Herb Nursery and Uzella Court Antiques.

Sue continued: “We also received event support in a range of ways and would like to thank LVMH in conjunction with the Rick Stein Group for the welcome champagne, Roger Lapin the illusionist, Abbotts Event Hire for help with chairs, Vega Rosa for beautiful table and room decorations, Eventy – Marketing & PR for help with securing prizes and PR, Charlie Hopkinson for photography, Vospers for their donation to help with costs of the event.”

Guests were in attendance from across Cornwall, including Samaritans Chair Keith Leslie, Patrons, Rick and Sara Stein; the Bishop of Truro, the Right Reverend Hugh Nelson; Cllr. Sam Rabey, Deputy Mayor of Truro; Tim Owen of ‘3 Dads Walking’; and David 'Fitz' Fizgerald as MC and Auctioneer.

The funds raised will help Cornwall Samaritans to continue to provide mental health services in our county, which has the highest rate of suicide in the country, high self-harming rates and stretched statutory mental health provision.

In the past 12 months alone, Cornwall Samaritans has answered over 20,000 calls for help via telephone and webchat; Cornwall’s Samaritans feed into a national network of support where the next available Samaritans answers a call.

Nationally Samaritans is well-known for receiving calls, but it is the emotional support off-site that Cornwall excels in; post-intervention and prevention are both focus activities for its 100+ volunteers that they find extremely rewarding.

Within the county, Cornwall Samaritans proactively reach out into the local community visiting various locations/organisations and talking to people that need them, where and when they are needed; including A+Es, schools, universities and stations.

The charity’s awareness and preventative work includes giving talks to groups e.g. Young Farmers, Lions, Rotaries, Round Tables and WIs, as well as taking stands at events; the team also provide on the ground support when a suicide has occurred.

Run completely by volunteers – from its Director to admin support - the work of Cornwall Samaritans has never been more needed against a backdrop where the cost-of-living crisis and other world events continue to impact on mental health.

If you would like to support Cornwall Samaritans, please click here and select “Truro” when the form asks if you would like to support a specific branch: https://www.samaritans.org/donatebranch

For more information or to contact Samaritans of Cornwall at Truro please email cornwallsamsfr@gmail.com