Appeal to help find new home for mental health charity after 50 years in temporary building

The Walsall and District Samaritans have launched the Project 55 appeal to raise £250,000 to help replace its existing portacabin on Bott Lane, which has been the home of the charity since 1971 and is in a state of disrepair.

The appeal is part of the 55th year celebrations of the charity operating in Walsall to help provide emotional support to people in crisis or distress and deputy director of fundraising Sharon Dicken said a new building was vital to help them continue their work.

She said: "We need a new building as this one is falling apart, with the external cladding having gone and various holes fixed over the years, and we need a new building as we would risk losing our computers and phones if there are leaks in the ceiling.

"We've been here in this temporary building since 1971, more than 50 years, and we're very conscious of how the weather's been and how it's looking and so the aim is get this fixed for our 55th anniversary."

Ms Dicken said the charity had been an active part of the community, going to places where suicides and attempted suicides had happened and offering support to people who had been affected by events.

She also said the Project 55 appeal is looking for 250 individuals, businesses or groups to raise £1,000 each over the course of 2024 ahead of the Samaritans' 70th anniversary in November, and spoke about how people could go about it.

She said: "We're thinking that someone might make a £1,000 donation individually, but equally, work teams could work together over the course of the year to raise that by doing their own fundraising events for us.

"Instead of tapping into the same group of people, we would like people to be able to do things and maybe we will get colleagues at work who think this would be a good idea for a team building exercise.

"We would also be happy to go out and talk to people and share our experiences and tell about what we do to help them and give them some skills as well as help them deal with mental health issues in the workplace."

Branch Director Mandy Poulson said: "The branch took its first call in 1969 and we moved to Bott Lane more than 50 years ago.

"Walsall Council have been extremely supportive over the years and recently confirmed we can stay on the site in Bott Lane and that we can add a new structure.

"This is really important to us so we can continue to offer our service for those people who need us most.

"We know £250,000.00 is a massive amount to raise, but by doing this the branch will have a secure future and a better environment for our dedicated volunteers who give their time free to support the Samaritans service.

"The people of Walsall and the surrounding areas have supported us before and we hope they can now."

To find out more, email Walsallsamaritansfundraising@gmail.com, donate at samaritans.org/branches/walsall or text CALLS followed by the donation amount to 70085.