New mural a celebration of what charity has done in Wolverhampton, but director says hard work still goes on
A Wolverhampton city charity working to provide emotional support for people across Wolverhampton has marked its diamond anniversary by unveiling a striking mural on the side of its headquarters.
Wolverhampton Samaritans welcome the community, including former Mayor of Wolverhampton Councillor Linda Leach, to its offices on Newhampton Road West in Whitmore Reans on Friday to enjoy coffee and cake and have a tour of the branch before the striking mural was unveiled to mark 60 years in the city.
The mural, created by local artist Nick Chwiej, was inspired by Wolverhampton’s motto, “Out of Darkness Cometh Light” and features the words “It’s good to talk” alongside the free Samaritans helpline number: 116 123.
The ribbon was cut by Councillor Leach, who also made a donation of £12,400 to the Samaritans as one of her charities as Mayor, with her theme for the year, “Every Person Matters”, resonating strongly with the branch’s ethos of every caller being given time, space, and a confidential listening ear.
Branch director Jenna Wilkins said she had been shocked with the amount donated and spoke about what it would do for the charity.
She said: "Councillor Leach said she was blown away by the mural and then presented us with the cheque, which just blew me away as it was not a number I was expecting.
"It's going to enable us to train new volunteers to keep the branch open and running and it's going to mean that we're able to do more community projects and outreach, so people will hopefully see a lot more of us around."
Ms Wilkins said that the mural and the anniversary were powerful reminders of the work still going on by Samaritans to help people and provide that support wherever needed.
She said: "I think it's a milestone that is worth celebrating because there have been countless people we have helped and we used to have a flying squad back in the day who had a grab bag and would go to people in crisis and support them in their environment.
"As time has gone on, we've had face to face appointments in branch, letter writing and phone calls and now we have online chat and emails that we can reach out to almost any age group, non-judgementally and completely confidentially.
"Our services are here 24/7, 365 days a year and there is always going to be someone on the end of the phone waiting to be there with you, so all you have to do is pick up the phone and someone will be there with you."
