A GLASGOW volunteer for The Samaritans has said the suicide rates would go up if the service did not exist.

Donald Ashburn has volunteered at the organisation’s Glasgow base for over four years and has experienced first-hand the difference the service makes.

He said: “We might see an increase in suicide rates nationwide if the Samaritans didn’t exist. We do a job here.”

His point is a fair one to make given that most recent figures show that suicides in Scotland have fallen for the fifth year running.

The Samaritans said 672 people took their own lives in Scotland in 2015, 69 of which were in Glasgow, and between 2009 and 2014 nearly 4,500 people died from suicide in this country.

Donald, 57, who previously worked as a nuclear engineer, knows these statistics only too well.

He decided to volunteer for the organisation after experiencing suicide within his own family, and he feels it has helped him understand the issue more.

He said: “I think what I have learned from here is that there is perception that the main reason that people want to take their own lives is because of depression or mental illness.

“It doesn’t seem to be the case. It seems to be when people feel trapped or they lose hope. That seems to be the trigger for suicidal planning.”

Donald, who lives in Glasgow’s South Side, is part of a rota of 180 volunteers in the city who give up their time to listen to others.

The trained counsellor completes 38 shifts a year and supports the 1,000 calls a week the organisation receives.

Donald and the other volunteers also offer emotional support to people via text, e-mail or face-to-face in branch.

He said: “Every day is the same. It is busy.

“It does spike at Christmas in terms of the level of need changes. There is more heightened anxiety or more loneliness.”

He added: “There is so much loneliness, isolation and mental health problems.

“Some people just phone for a wee chat and it sets them up for the day.

“Other people call because they are actively committing suicide while on the phone.”

Although they take calls from all over the UK, the volunteer admits that when they do get a Glaswegian on the line they often listen to that caller’s thoughts of wanting to throw themselves in the River Clyde.

He said: “I have had people referencing the fact they are going to throw themselves in the Clyde.

“It’s almost like it’s a cliché. People do use it as a thought out means of suicide.”

The job is a tough one but Donald enjoys it because he feels he is giving back.

He said: “Personally I don’t look in the newspapers to see if I can identify a caller.

“Once the phone is down we debrief with our shift partner, we walk out the door and we try not take the issues with us.

“On a strange level I enjoy doing it but I don’t take it outside the door.”

He added: “We do get people calling to thank us.

“That happens more at Xmas and New Year.”

The organisation, however, is prone to prank calls which Donald finds disheartening.

But he recognises that he can put up with that to help the people who matter.

He said: “The caller gets a lot of satisfaction from the fact they are not being judged.

“Some people will actually genuinely pull back from a decision to take their own lives through speaking to someone who is impartial.“

For anyone who feels they have what it takes to volunteer for the Samaritans, Donald is cautious that it takes a certain kind of person.

He said: “Most of the time it is pretty tough. You need to be curious about people. You need to have had some personal life experience. You need to be empathic, non-judgemental and in quite a good place in your own life.

“If you have anything major going on in your own life, it would be difficult to do this.”

He added: “I do, however. love giving a bit back.

“I joined the training team so I am bringing in new SAMS (the name the volunteers call each other)

“I get so much out of this on a personal level because I am learning stuff, and I am curious about life and people.”

Samaritans is available round the clock, every single day of the year.

The organisation provide a safe place for anyone struggling to cope, whoever they are, however they feel, whatever life has done to them.

Please call 116 123 (this number is free to call and won’t show up on your phone bill), e-mail jo@samaritans.org, or visit www.samaritans.org/branches to find details of the nearest branch.