Tag: give us a shout

Volunteer As A Crisis Counsellor

It’s time for another blog post, and this time I’m going to talk a little about a fabulous charity that I’m currently training with.

Shout Crisis Text Line UK is a charity which officially launches next year, but is currently training volunteers to become Crisis Counsellors (me included!).

‘Shout’ is a free 24/7 direct messaging service for anyone in crisis, at anytime. This service already exists in the USA as ‘Crisis Text Line’, but this is the first time this tried and tested technology has come to the UK.

‘Shout’ is powered by a team of volunteers who are at the heart of the service. They take people from crisis to calm every day of the week. There aren’t many places you can go if you’re struggling, day or night, and you need someone to help you in that moment.

Some people don’t feel comfortable talking in person, or find it difficult to speak on the phone, which can particularly be the case when they are going through a time of crisis, so having a text service aims to offer another option.

There are already some volunteers who have completed their training, and are now piloting the service via charity partners.

Training is a big commitment, and involves completing 34 hours of online training over 6 weeks, but once trained, volunteering consists of giving 2-4 hours a week, at a time to suit you, day or night.

The charity is always looking for volunteers to train as Crisis Counsellors. The training does involve topics such as suicide and self-harm, so it isn’t for everyone, but I’m now half way through my training, and I can tell you that it is incredibly rewarding, and I’m learning so much already.

If you’d like more information, or would like to apply to become a volunteer, take a look at their website here: https://giveusashout.org/

Karen x