Exclusive: Samaritans volunteers 'had sex with callers'

Samaritans volunteers abused their position of trust by having sex with vulnerable callers, The Telegraph understands, prompting the charity to 'listen in' to conversations for the first time.

The “shocking” incidents are believed to include volunteers meeting up with callers for inappropriate relationships.

It is understood that there was a “specific demographic” of some "middle-aged men” who were abusing female callers by meeting up and having sex with them.

The charity, which provides a helpline service for people in emotional distress or at risk of suicide, has strict rules concerning volunteer contact with callers.

The incidents have prompted a mass overhaul of policies announced to local branches last month, with calls set to be listened to by staff and other volunteers for the first time - a move that has caused fear among some volunteers that the charity's commitment to caller confidentiality is being undermined because of a minority of rogue actors.

The Samaritans, which takes five million calls a year and has 20,000 volunteers, currently does not have “listening in'' for callers to its service but plans to introduce this later this year amid concerns about poor-quality responses and the safety of callers being put at risk.

In a memo to volunteers it said 44 “serious safeguarding incidents” had occurred since 2017, “many of which have only been brought to our attention via a third party”.

The Telegraph has spoken to Samaritans volunteers from across the country. One, based in the north of England, and who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that he was “shocked” listening to the briefing from head office.

“I've been a volunteer for six years and I've never seen anything like this,” he said. “I felt quite angry that someone could have done it. Obviously we are speaking to vulnerable people day in and day out. It amazes you that someone could abuse that trust.

“From hearing the talk, I thought it could only be about one of two things - it was either going to be about inappropriate contact over the calls or someone meeting up out of branch. But if there's one thing that’s a big no, it’s that. It’s massive. We’re really well trained but that's the worst thing anyone can do.”

Another volunteer, based in the south of England, who also didn’t want to be named, said they had been told by senior staff that the most serious incidents were “as serious as someone having sex with a caller” which could amount to alleged “sexual misconduct”.

New policies will include listening in by a team of volunteers and staff that the charity hopes will be drawn from all of its regional branches, as well as a new “concerns line” for whistleblowers.

It is understood that volunteers were briefed in early June about the alleged incidents, with head office telling staff about new policies in a video played to volunteers.

'Shocking, difficult' revelations

The revelations were described as “difficult” and “shocking” in internal emails seen by The Telegraph.

Samaritans says it has reported all serious safeguarding incidents to the Charity Commission. A serious safeguarding incident usually means something that has caused or risked significant harm to someone connected with a charity's activities, including abuse as well as failures of vetting.

In 2017 the charity clarified its policies to say that in some instances information about callers could be passed on to emergency services if they were classed as vulnerable or aged under 13.

Julie Bentley, the chief executive of Samaritans, said: “Our 20,000 Samaritans volunteers enable us to provide vital emotional support to anyone who is struggling, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and in the four years from January 2017, volunteers on our telephone service answered over 13 million calls.

“Running any national service on this scale means that, on extremely rare occasions, high standards are not always met and from the millions of calls answered, a very small number of safeguarding incidents were identified.

“Our robust investigation procedures meant these incidents were handled swiftly and appropriate action taken.

“Any safeguarding matter is one too many and as such we review our practices on an ongoing basis and have introduced further measures as part of our commitment to delivering a consistently high-quality experience for our callers.”

Watch: Rape survivor calls for public awareness campaign to make face covering exemptions clearer