Samaritans will be at Hither Green station to encourage people to listen to others and help 'save lives'.

The annual month-long awareness campaign Talk to Us in July encourages people from all over the UK to take a few minutes to improve their listening skills by following the charity’s simple SHUSH! listening tips.

Samaritans volunteers will be handing out SHUSH listening tips and highlighting the support they provide for the community, which centres on good listening skills at Hither Green railway station on July 24 from 7 to 10am.

Every six seconds, someone in the UK and Ireland contacts Samaritans, and every 90 minutes in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, someone takes their own life.

Samaritans say that listening is crucial to helping people find their way through their problems, and the charity would like to encourage people to seek help early, rather than when they reach a crisis.

Samaritans’ Listening Tips or S-H-U-S-H:

Show you care:  focus just on the other person, make eye contact, put away your phone

Have patience:  it may take time and several attempts before a person is ready to open up

Use open questions:  that need more than a yes/no answer, & follow up e.g. ‘Tell me more’

Say it back:  to check you’ve understood, but don’t interrupt or offer a solution

Have courage:  don’t be put off by a negative response and, most importantly, don’t be afraid to leave silence

Good listening is hard but Samaritans believes it essential in bringing down the number of suicides.

Director, Deborah Dowdall from Lewisham, Greenwich & Southwark Samaritans said: “Suicide is everybody’s business and we can all do our bit to encourage people to be better listeners and reach out for help if they need to.

"We’re a culture of people who love to give advice, love to give opinions and love the sound of our own voices.

"But this year we’re asking people all over the country to SHUSH! and take time out to listen to others.

"Sixty years of Samaritans’ expertise has taught us that just listening is the greatest gift you can give to somebody, and that it can save lives.

“Samaritans’ aim is to bring down the high numbers of suicides in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. It wants to encourage people to ask for help early if they are struggling, rather than waiting until they reach a crisis.”