Radiohead drummer Selway speaks out for Samaritans

With today being Suicide Prevention Day, Selway is helping to encourage Extreme Listening‚ the programme aiming to motivate more young people aged 18-24 to volunteer for The Samaritans. The campaign is being carried out through postcards which are being distributed in Ibiza, as well as posters throughout the UK.

Selway explained: "There's the common misconception that at that age you're too young to do the work, you haven‚t got enough experience, but age isn't a barrier. I was nineteen when I became a Samaritans volunteer. The only experience you really need is in listening effectively, and your Samaritans branch will prepare you for that."

The campaign aims to show the link between listening to music and expressing emotion. Samaritans are suggesting that through becoming a volunteer, you get to experience another form of powerful listening.

The drummer, who has been a Samaritan for 18 years since joining university, said: "The experience that you need is to listen properly and effectively - give people the space to examine their own feelings. The whole Samaritans thing is about getting alongside someone who is really trying to understand what they're going through."

Selway added: "Working with Samaritans has been a profound experience for me. It's the knowledge that hopefully you've made a positive difference to someone's life when they've been going through a crisis."

For more information about the "Extreme Listening"‚ campaign, visit www.samaritans.org/extreme. Director of volunteer resources with Samaritans, Chris James, said, "Some people think that you need to be older or to have experience to become a Samaritans volunteer, but that's not the case. With Samaritans, you not only have the opportunity to provide support for people in distress, but also to grow, through meeting new people and learning new skills that are useful in all aspects of life. In our 50th year we'd like to ensure that we'll have enough volunteers to make sure that we can be there for another 50 years."

Samaritans (Ireland) 1850 60 90 90
Also see "Turning the Tide of Suicide" at www.3ts.ie