Support Line Volunteers
We operate a national support line, open from 9am to 7pm, Monday to Wednesday. We take calls from anyone who is over 18 and it is an opportunity for people to talk with someone who has been bereaved by suicide. Find out more about calling the support line.
Great support line volunteers do more listening than talking, are comfortable listening to the experiences of others and pay attention to their own well-being and boundaries.
Support line volunteers listen to callers, answer any questions they have and arrange to send them further information if required. Sometimes callers may ask you to share your personal story. They have shifts assigned in advance governed by their availability and can be 30 minutes to 4 hours long, depending on the volunteers preference. The telephone line is diverted to their land line for these shifts and some people have a different ring tone assigned for support line calls.
All support line volunteers must have a working landline and phone to apply.
Support line volunteers must have been bereaved by suicide themselves, not less than 2 years previously. This shared experience with the people who call us is a really important part of what makes them so effective. People feel that they will be understood.
We provide training and the opportunity to attend our conferences.
Support Group Volunteers
We run local SoBS support groups at locations around the UK – and we are always looking to open more. Groups are open to anyone over 18 and create an opportunity for people to meet with others who have been bereaved by suicide so that they can share experiences and ask questions. They meet once a month, at a set time and location. Find out more about what happens at a group.
Each local SoBS group is run by a team of 3 group facilitators. Between them, they facilitate the session, get the conversation started, make sure everyone has the opportunity to talk if they want to, and generally look out for people. The team also work together to manage the administration, fundraising and communication for the group.
Great group facilitators do more listening than talking, are comfortable listening to the experiences of others and pay attention to their own well-being and boundaries.
All volunteers are to be bereaved by suicide for more than 2 years. This shared experience with the people who come to our groups is a really important part of what makes them so effective. People feel that they will be understood.
All volunteers must attend SoBS training before a group can start.
Since losing our son Jonathan to suicide in May 2011, we have done quite a lot of fundraising. We have held boot sales, stalls at fetes, skydives and many, many raffles.
In 2005 we tragically lost Fee – beloved wife and mother, when she took her own life. The shock and loss was enormous and it wasn’t until 2009 when we discovered Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide. This charity has helped all three of us, in different ways, in coming to terms with such a painful loss. It is a loss that you never get over, but their involvement in our lives has helped us to move on but not forget.