Please visit https://www.samaritans.org/branches/bracknell
An ambitious walker with a 6000-mile target called at Bracknell on Monday, 19th April, for a welcome refreshment break.
David Matthews, from the Knoydart Peninsula on the west coast of Scotland, called in
at the local branch of Samaritans on his 6000-mile walk to all 201 branches of the listening charity.
He was welcomed at Bracknell, Wokingham, Ascot & Districts’ branch, based off Larges Lane, Bracknell, by branch director Barbara Denyer, branch trustee Nick Tuggey and other volunteers. They provided a welcome cup of tea and home-made gingerbread and a rest outside the branch centre.
David took breaks during lockdowns but is now on another leg of The Listening Walk, and had come east from Plymouth and was on his way from the Reading branch to the Guildford branch of Samaritans.
He said: “The walk is raising awareness across the country. The most vulnerable, in their hour of greatest need, will have access to another person 24 hours of every day.
“We all have mental health; most can deal with it but any of us can at any time have ‘events’ happen to us. And it will be the love and kindness of other people who are the safety net to catch us when we fall. So many people have shared their experiences of lowest ebbs, times when they thought they would never be happy again. But their lives have been changed because somebody somewhere listened.”
David’s journey can be followed on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at ‘The Listening Walk’.
Samaritans are free to call at 116123 or email jo@samaritans.org