press

There is always something new and newsworthy going on at SOS Help! Read on for the latest press.

SOS Help featured in March issue of French Property News

Below is the full article from yet another excellent piece spreading the word about SOS Help's services to the Anglophone community in France:

Volunteers at SOS Help provide an English language listening service for Anglophones in France. Co-founded by Chad Varah of the Samaritans in 1974, SOS Help is now the English speaking "post" of SOS Amitié who are celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2010.

The Association has around 50 members: a team of around 30 listeners who cover 2 shifts a day from 3 to 11 pm, and the remaining members support the line in publicity and vital fundraising.

Trained by professionals in active listening, the listeners provide a confidential, non-judgmental and non-directive service. Many callers are lonely and isolated by geography, language or family situation. They may be depressed; they are all highly stressed, but relatively few calls concern suicide.

Self-funding, SOS Help book sales raised 11000€ in 2 sales of donated used English books in 2009. They also held a fundraiser hosted by their Patron, Lady Westmacott, spouse of the British Ambassador to France: "Writers at the Residence" where Stephen Clarke, Alec Lobrano, Michael Sadler, Heather Stimmler-Hall and Charles Timoney - chaired by Bryce Corbett - spoke about life in France from an outsider's view.

SOS Help is able to issue fiscal receipts to donors who pay taxes in France, and this year they have 2 runners in the Paris half-marathon and the Paris marathon who will be sending their sponsors to the SOS Help website to donate to SOS Help: www.soshelpline.org.

The French Paper features SOS Help in an article from their February edition

We had great exposure in the February edition of The French Paper. Below are excerpts from the article:

Three times a month for four hours at a time John, a retired army supervisor, sits on the end of a phone and listens to Anglophones in desperate need of someone to talk to. The majority of those that call, about 60 percent, are female and generally middle-aged. Most are lonely or depressed, and feel there is no one they can share their problems with. In the four years he has been a volunteer, John has had two people on the point of suicide. "They are, of course, the most emotional calls," says John.

John is one of around 30 volunteers, called Listeners, who give their time to the charity SOS Help, part of the French SOS Amitié Federation, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year. SOS Help was founded 36 years ago in response to a perceived need, when medical workers noted an increase in mental health difficulties amongst the expat community in France.

John volunteers because it gave him the opportunity to help those who needed help. "It is a way of being useful," he says. "I can help someone by listening and in that way provide relief to someone in emotional distress."

His calls can last anything from one minute to an hour but while he responds to the person calling in, he doesn't offer solutions. "We are non-judgemental, non-directive and it is not for us to tell them want to do," he explains. "For many people they're isolated by geography, by language or they don't want to 'bother' their spouse. The chance to verbalise the problem can help them to formulate a solution that they hadn't thought of before," says John. "And even if it doesn't, we at least may give them temporary relief. People who are thinking of suicide have been stressed for a while. They likely have tried resolving their situation through many unsuccessful things – they don't need someone offering even more potentially unsuccessful solutions but someone who can listen and validate and discuss their pain."

Read more from The French Paper

SOS Help featured on Bryce Corbett's Blog

Another one of the featured writers from the "Writers at the Residence" fundraiser on October 20, 2009, Bryce Corbett, featured SOS Help on his blog.

Thanks, Bryce, for moderating the panel discussion during the event and helping to increase awareness about us after the event!

Read his blog post

SOS Help featured on Secrets of Paris Blog

Following our "Writers at the Residence" fundraiser October 20, 2009, hosted by Lady Westmacott at the Residence at the British Embassy, featured writer Heather Stimmler-Hall mentioned SOS Help on her blog, Secrets of Paris.

We appreciate her support of our organization, both by participating in the fundraiser and by increasing awareness about us through her blog. Thanks, Heather!

Read her blog post

"On The Line", Article about SOS Help in French Property News

In April 2009, the French Property News featured an article, "On The Line", about SOS Help. Here is an excerpt:

There are thousands of English-speaking expats in France. It comes as no surprise that so many people would relocate to such a lovely country. But among all the clinking of wine glasses are people who are feeling a little down.

Read the full article

Memories of Chad Varah

Richard Palk, a former co-director for SOS Help, shares his thoughts on his the memorial service for Chad Varah, founder of The Samaritans:

It was a great honour and pleasure to be at the Thanksgiving service for Chad Varah at St. Paul's. Back in the winter of 1970, he had prepared me to be a Samaritan. In 1975, he had come to Paris to stay with us when Deirdre and I had become co-directors of SOS Help. And then, in the mid-80s, when he had retired from active roles in Samaritans/Befrienders but continued as Rector of St Stephen Walbrook, I was his PCC Treasurer for some years.

So it was with all these memories that I went into the cathedral of which he had been a Prebendary on Wednesday, November 12th. It was a happy service. One of his godsons played the organ before the service. Prince Charles was due to be there as patron of the Samaritans, but his mother had arranged various 60th birthday events for him!

There were lot of readings, often from Chad's own writings, one of them read by Joanna Lumley. One reading called the "The Gift" was written and read by a former listener, and spoke of the gift listeners feel they have been given in having the privilege to listen. It was a very happy reminiscence of much of Chad's life.

I felt myself the unofficial representative of SOS Help. And later in the week I went into St Stephen Walbrook to see again the famous telephone at which it all started and to sign the book of remembrance.

Thanks to Richard for sharing his kind thoughts.

SOS Help Featured in The Connexion

The June edition of The Connexion features an article on SOS Help. Here is an excerpt from the article:

"We're listening" - that's the message from SOS help, a service dedicated to helping people in need of someone to talk to. A branch of France's SOS Amitié Federation and linked to the Samaritans, the line is manned every day from 15.00 - 23.00 to provide a confidential listening service to anyone who is feeling lonely, anxious, worried or confused.

Read the full article

Var Reporter Features SOS Help

Visit The Riveria Reporter to view the May edition of The Var Reporter, which features an article on SOS Help. You may download the full edition from their website or directly from the link below. Here is an excerpt from the article:

As many of us would agree, being an expat in a foreign country isn't always easy. There may be language barriers or culture differences which make it hard to integrate or make friends within the local community. Sometimes the job doesn't work out as planned, or a personal relationship changes or falters. The separation from established support networks of family and friends can be hard to cope with; expats may feel they have been removed from their personal "comfort zones" and plunged into an alien environment which can give rise to insecurities, leaving a person feeling depressed, lonely, vulnerable or just plain lost. It's at times like this that an expat may really need to talk to someone in their own language, and this is where SOS Help, an English-speaking support service based in the Paris area, comes in.

Download the May edition

SOS Article Published in French News, France's English-language Newspaper

On 14 January, 2008, French News ran an article about SOS Help. It explains who we are, what we do, and why people would want to call us. French News has been around for 20 years, and their monthly publication is France's best-selling monthly newspaper in English for Francophiles.

Read the full article (free login required to read archived articles)

Death of Chad Varah, Founder of The Samaritans

On 8 November 2007, Chad Varah, founder of The Samaritans, a UK based crisis hotline, died at the age of 95. From the official article on the Befrienders website:

Felicity Varah, Chad's eldest child, comments: "Thanks to my father, Samaritans has been working for over 50 years, providing confidential, emotional support for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which may lead to suicide. His relationship with Samaritans had many chapters, from the moment he founded it in his beloved Church, St Stephen Walbrook in 1953, through its expansion worldwide, to the latter years when he stepped back to allow the movement to grow and flourish".

Read the full article

Lost in France Mentions SOS Help

Lost in France, an online guide to living in France, published a feature about SOS Help and the services we offer. Here is an excerpt from the article:

SOS Help is a voluntary community service offering emotional support to English-speaking people in France. Empathetic listeners from all walks of life and nationalities listen to callers feeling lonely, anxious or depressed - or who just need someone totalk to in their own language.

Read the full article

"The Listening Post" Published in Expatica

In December 2005, Expatica ran an article about SOS Help and posted the story permanently to their health section. Here is an excerpt from the article:

SOS Help is an English-language 'crisis line' operating out of an undisclosed Paris location for the past 30 years; a non-profit association, it's run completely by volunteers who keep their names a secret but who provide a sympathetic ear for 300 to 400 calls a month.

Read the full article