MAN 9000: A LIFELINE

It began with one man in a small room somewhere in 1953 London. The man the Reverend Chad Varrah an Anglican clergyman ordained in 1936. Dial MAN9000 at that time and you received an open and listening ear still there to this day 57 years on with the many volunteers in both Samaritans and its sister-body Befrienders Worldwide.

Chad Varrah's surname is thought to originate from a distant Ukrainian ancestor & his forename from St Chad a patron of his birth parish Barton-on-Humber in 1911.

The idea for the Samaritans probably seeded in Chad's mind when in his first parish he assisted at the funeral of a fourteen year old girl. The girl had committed suicide because she was deeply distressed by the onset of menstruation which through ignorance she had thought to be a wasting disease that had gripped her body and she couldn't cope. A not too unlikely mistake in some disadvantaged communities in those times.

Distress, depression, despair probably contribute to about one million suicides each year according to the World Health Organisation's estimates. Many more are attempted in the same period. A dark time came also for the Organisations in 2003 the Golden Jubilee Year of the Samaritans. For some time Varrah had been unhappy with what he perceived as a departure from the Organisation's original aims. A dispute also arose with the Charity Commissioners concerning their charitable status and for a time Chad Varrah ceased any official role in either Samaritans or Befrienders Worldwide. Reconciliation finally came however and his son was given a seat on the Board of the Trustees.

In 1993 Chad's wife died, someone who had been both a major figure in her own right and great support in his many trials and triumphs. Chad Varrah was to follow her fourteen years later in 2007 aged ninety-two.

I hope the following might serve as some tribute both to the mighty work initiated by this man and to the very many generous people who have volunteered to give their time and friendship to this work. “My children, our love should not be just mere words but also a true love which shows itself in action” 1 John 3.18 Good News Bible.

Fr David

Future Guide Dog at the Street Fayre: see p6.
Jane to revisit this month: see page 7.
Rachel and other local artists at Warwick Arts Week: see page 8.