In memory of our sunshine girl Abi

Our Abi was the most beautiful, kindest, caring and selfless soul. We will forever remember our happy ray of sunshine with her infectious laugh and sunniest biggest smile.

 

However we must remember that behind Abi's tragic death are suffering and mental health issues that so many young people struggle with. From the age of 16 Abi battled with anxiety and depression. Abi leaves a legacy of the change in mental health policies and bringing mindfulness into her secondary school to support others suffering the same.

 

At the age of 20 Abi had an episode of psychosis, a very distressing time for Abi .With amazing support from the NHS and the love, care and support from us a family, Abi got over this and turned her life around. We were so proud of her; she went on to work at the Beacon SEN School, finish her degree with a first and then subsequently go on to be accepted at UCL London to study for her teaching degree. Abi would have made the most amazing, kind and compassionate teacher.

 

Abi was surrounded by so many friends and family who adored her, she lived life to the full with so much confidence and fun, she sure loved a party and dancing!

 

Long distance hiking became a big part of Abi's life in the past year, she knew that walking and talking was so fundamental for her mental health and well being. In the last year Abi walked some admirable distances and saw some of the most beautiful sights in the UK, we were in awe of her.

 

So although there is everything amazing and wonderful about Abi, there was suffering too, mental health is an invisible illness that can affect any one of us, and poor Abi was affected . Abi told me that on top of talking to us and friends, in her darkest times she had reached out to the Samaritans and had been listened to many a time in confidence and without being judged.

 

This is not about me, but my Abi inspired me into becoming a Samaritans listener, something I'd wanted to do for many years but the time had to be right. I am a volunteer at the Folkestone, Dover and Hythe Branch.

 

I know Abi would 100% approve of this ...instead of flowers for Abi's funeral, we would like to raise some much needed funds for the Folkestone Samaritans branch as fundraising has been difficult during the pandemic . One of the things the branch would like to do is cheer up the very sad looking courtyard garden and turn into a happy and bright courtyard in tribute and memory of Abi who held the Samaritans close to her heart. It will be a calming place that volunteers can be in between shifts and calls and that face to face callers will see too.

 

Here’s a little bit about the Samaritans (www.Samaritans.org ) and the Folkestone, Dover and Hythe branch ……

 

Samaritans was founded nearly 70 years ago in 1953 by the Reverend Chad Varah. His inspiration came from an experience he had as a young curate when he had taken a funeral for a 14 year old girl who had killed herself because she feared she had contracted an STD. In reality she was menstruating.

 

Varah placed an advertisement in a London newspaper encouraging people to volunteer at his church, listening to people contemplating suicide.

 

Now there are over 20,000 volunteers nationwide.

 

We are part of a team of over 60 volunteers based in Folkestone. We listen in confidence to anyone in any type of emotional distress, without judging or telling them what to do We don’t offer advice, but by encouraging people who contact us to talk about their feelings we are able to help them explore all the options they have.

 

You can talk to Samaritans at any time of the day or night on a national number ☎️116 123. common reasons to call are:

- Relationship and family problems

- Loss, including loss of a job, a friend or a family member through bereavement

- Financial worries

- Job-related stress or overwork

- College or study related stress

- Body image issues

 

On a practical front within each branch there are no paid staff and no government or central funding. We raise our own funds for all our core costs of running the branch, promotion and advertising, and it costs approximately £20,000 a year to run our branch.

 

We run three training programmes each year for new volunteers, and have regular on-going training for all listening Samaritans.

 

It may surprise you to hear that in our branch we actually speak to over 10,000 callers per annum, with about the same number of callers who put the phone down as soon as it is answered, so in all, the volunteers in our branch pick up the phone more than 20,000 times a year.

 

In addition to phone calls we can be contacted by email, or face-to-face callers are always welcome in our branch at 9 Cambridge Gardens, Folkestone CT20 1DB.

 

We need to raise awareness about the work we do in the community, and recruit volunteers either as ‘listening Samaritans’ or Friends to help with fund raising.

 

“There are very few places you can go to in the world where you can pick up a telephone and another human being, no matter why they're doing it, will listen to you unconditionally. If you want to pour it all out in a phone call, they will listen for hours, for as long as you need them to..."

 

Many thanks to you all for reading this and for donating the Folkestone Samaritans will appreciate every single donation.  

 

Helen & Family xx