Gavin Friday backs Samaritans campaign

FINGLAS singer, composer and all round hipster Gavin Friday will be on hand to launch a Dublin Samaritans 24 hour street campaign this week on midnight, July 23.

The former Virgin Prunes band member is also encouraging anybody suffering problems in silence to open up and speak to family and friends.

“Dubliners and the Irish in general love to talk – or do we?

? asked Gavin.

“I think we’re great at talking – except when it really matters.

“It’s really important that people talk to someone before their problems become overwhelming – and that when they do open up, their friends, family or whoever they confide in, let them talk – and know how to listen.

?

Gavin made the comments at an announcement by Dublin Samaritans that they are hosting an

‘Active Listening’ seminar at 8pm on Monday, July 22, at their premises on Marlborough Street.

The Dublin Samaritans will be joined again by Gavin on O’Connell Street to mark the start of their

’24/7 Talk to Us’ street campaign which sees them set up couches on Dublin’s main street, just across from the Gresham Hotel, at midnight, July 23.

At midday on July 24, the couches will be moved to Grafton Street (at St Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre) where volunteers will continue to promote the campaign until midnight.

Gavin is a long-time supporter of the Dublin Samaritans and its mission – which is that fewer people die by suicide.

“Suicide is not an

‘issue’ – it’s a person,

? he said.

“Suicide is not a statistic – it is the death, the traumatic death, of another human being. All of us should be on the lookout for people in crisis.

?

Director of Dublin Samaritans, Brendan Gallagher, will give tips on what signs people should look out for to recognise anxiety in a friend or family member and how to handle it at Monday’s Active Listening event.

“People suffering from depression are very good at hiding it,

? he said.

“But when they do contact us, it takes a very special kind of skill to get them to talk.

“We call it

‘Active Listening’ and we want to help the general public learn that skill.

“With Active Listening, the focus should not be on problem solving but on the feelings of the person in crisis. Feelings are complex always – the person in a crisis may be experiencing a whole range of contrasting feelings all at the same time.

“Giving them the space and the time to explore their feelings, we believe, helps a person to see things from a different perspective. Although most people are emotionally

‘literate’, many are not. There are many people who live lonely desperate lives, and who have experienced very little love and whose feelings are unknown even to themselves.

?

?¢ People in crisis can contact Dublin Samaritans for face-to-face meetings at 112 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1, by phone on 1850-609090, text 087-2609090 or email jo@samaritans.org.