The Listening Place

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The Listening Place

Face-to-face support for those who feel life is no longer worth living. Since the charity was founded in 2016, it has received over 30,000 referrals.

The Listening Place currently supports around 2,000 people on an ongoing basis each month across three London sites (Pimlico, Kings Cross, Hammersmith and Liverpool Street). TLP offers a warm, non-judgmental and completely confidential setting in which people can speak openly about wanting to end their own lives. Carefully selected and trained volunteers deliver fortnightly, 50-minute appointments

, supporting visitors for at least three months and up to a year. TLP is open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year except Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Interested in volunteering with us? Find out more here: http://listeningplace.org.uk/volunteer/

Please note that TLP cannot provide support via this page. It is not actively managed and to protect the anonymity of anyone wishing to contact us the message service and wall post options have been disabled.

17/06/2026

A lot can happen in a decade.

For us, the last 10 years have meant recruiting and training thousands of people to be highly skilled active listeners 🙋‍♀️🙋🙋‍♂️

Providing a safe space and a compassionate ear for tens of thousands of people who felt that life was no longer worth living 🧡👂

And offering hundreds of thousands of free, face-to-face, completely confidential appointments 🔒

We're proud of these numbers, because we've always grown to meet demand. The scale of The Listening Place today is testament to the fact that the service we offer is really powerful. More and more partners refer to us, because they know that we can offer effective, in-person support within a week. We measure our impact, so we know that what we do is proven to help people feel less suicidal, less distressed and more supported. And, most importantly, every month we receive comments like this one:

“The Listening Place has been a godsend—the only place in which, in my darkest moments, I feel safe, validated and heard. The volunteers show a kindness, compassion and patience that is rare and undervalued. The place itself restores calm and peace and feels like a sanctuary. I owe The Listening Place a debt of gratitude that I can never repay, but I will gladly and honestly say that it is special and precious, made up of incredible people and principles. It is a beacon of light and saves lives. Thank you for being here for me and for every client.”

15/06/2026

Ten years ago this week, The Listening Place started delivering its first appointments 🎂

Back then, we were a tiny operation: just 20 volunteers, working two days a week from the offices of Wandsworth & Westminster Mind on Vauxhall Bridge Road. What began as a trickle of referrals soon gathered momentum, and over the next 18 months, TLP received over 1,000 referrals and began opening seven days a week from its first stand-alone site at 3 Meade Mews in Pimlico. By October 2018, that site had reached full capacity.

Two further satellite sites, one at a CNWL NHS Foundation Trust building in Victoria and and the other at King's College Hospital, tided us over until another stand-alone site could be found. We opened our King's Cross centre in December 2020, doubling capacity and allowing us to support 3,500 people a year. A couple of years after that, we secured our building in Hammersmith, and by August 2024 we had received 30,000 referrals. Our fourth site, on Cobb Street in East London, opened last October and we now have enough capacity to support 10,000 people every year.

We are so grateful to everyone who has played a part in making all this happen: our amazing volunteers, our generous donors and funders, all the partners in the NHS and beyond who refer dozens of people to our service every day.

And we are grateful to the visitors who put their faith in us in the early days, before TLP was tried and tested, who came along to their appointments and then told us how much it had meant to them to have that warm, welcoming, confidential space to explore their suicidal thoughts. You let us know that the model worked, that there was a real and urgent need for a free, face-to-face service. You motivated us to keep fundraising, growing, training more and more volunteers, ensuring that there were always appointments for those who needed them, and never a waiting list.

Thank you, and here's to the next ten years 🧡

03/06/2026

This , we're celebrating the 911 incredible TLP volunteers who regularly give their time to ensure that those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts don't have to suffer alone.

Through the simple, powerful act of listening with the utmost care and compassion, our Listening Volunteers create a space where our visitors can safely explore their feelings, without anyone offering them advice or trying to 'fix' them.

Our Helping Volunteers ensure that all our London sites are warm and welcoming places to be, providing comfort and reassurance (and the offer of a cup of tea or coffee) from the moment someone steps through our doors.

We are profoundly grateful to every volunteer who supports our mission, bringing genuine curiosity, kindness and dedication to every shift.

Thank you for everything you do 🧡

20/05/2026

Our brilliant team of 12 runners raised over £12k for us last Sunday at the joyous ✨

Thank you and well done to each and every one of you 👏👏👏

If you missed out on a Hackney Half place but you're still keen to do a fundraising run for us this year, we have a few places left for the on Sunday 11 October. You can sign up here https://ow.ly/iOls50Z2bOJ

19/05/2026

We are delighted to have been awarded a £10,000 grant from The Pixel Fund towards our work supporting young people with suicidal thoughts, taking the total they have contributed to us over the years to £28,000.

Last year, a quarter of the people who came to appointments with us were aged between 18 and 25, and NHS mental health referrals for young people have surged in the past few years.

This latest grant will directly cover the cost of ongoing appointments for 40 young people over the coming year, ensuring that they have a safe, compassionate and confidential space to explore their suicidal feelings.

The Pixel Fund has been one of our longest standing supporters and we're so grateful for their ongoing belief in our work 💜

15/05/2026

What does 'action' mean for the people that come to us in their darkest moments? Here are some of our visitors speaking about the aspects of our support that really mattered to them.

When people leave our service, we ask them for a little bit of feedback about their experience. And we pay attention to it. Hearing what has worked for people (and what hasn't) helps us continuously improve the support we offer, and ensures that we always keep the voices of our visitors in mind.

13/05/2026

The theme of this year is 'action'.

At The Listening Place, we've spent the last ten years putting ideas into action every day.

We believed that volunteers were capable of delivering really effective support for people with suicidal thoughts, so we've now trained over 2,300 of them to do exactly that.

We thought people should be able to swiftly access face-to-face support at a time that suited them, so last year we offered over 49,000 in-person appointments across London.

And we knew that those in suicidal crisis needed urgent support, not a place on a long waiting list, so we committed to always reach out to someone within 24 hours of a referral and to offer a first appointment within a week.

If you like what we do and you want to help us continue our work, please consider making a donation https://listeningplace.org.uk/donate/

Thank you 💜

11/05/2026

Three of our previous visitors have generously chosen to share their experiences of coming to The Listening Place for support in our new short film, released today to mark 2026.

The theme for this week is 'action'. As a charity offering one vital service — free, regular, face-to-face appointments for those who feel life is no longer worth living — our focus has always been on the tangible actions we can take to support people in their darkest moments. That first phone call within 24 hours of a referral. The offer of a welcoming hot drink. A conversation with a compassionate, curious person who gives you the time and space to explore your feelings. The promise of ongoing appointments with someone you can trust, for as long as you need.

The impact of these small, simple actions can be enormous. And we thought there was no better way to convey the effect of what we do than letting our visitors speak for themselves.

We hope you enjoy the film 💜

06/05/2026

It can be difficult for people who have recently become mothers to reach out for help with suicidal thoughts and feelings. Our service is completely confidential, so that anyone who comes to us for support knows they can speak frankly, without fear of repercussions. We operate without waiting lists and reach out to every referral within 24 hours.

If this sounds like the kind of support you might need, please give us a call or self-refer to us here listeningplace.org.uk/i-need-help

05/05/2026

The relationship between volunteer and visitor is at the heart of what we do.

Visitors often tell us how special and significant it is to have someone there from session to session — someone who remembers their story, helps them explore their suicidal thoughts, and simply listens without judgement. Some people say this is what saved their lives.

We welcome volunteers from all backgrounds, communities, and walks of life — whether you’re working, retired, studying, between roles, or bringing your own experience of life’s challenges.

We provide full initial training and support, so you’ll feel confident and supported in the role.

Here's what we look for:
💜 Empathy and resilience
🗓️ A commitment to a fortnightly four-hour shift at one of our London sites
🔒 Respect for our policy of complete confidentiality

And, just as importantly, here’s what you don’t need:
🎓 Any specific qualifications or level of education
👨‍⚕️ Any clinical or professional experience

Apply today and join an information meeting to find out more about how you can make a real difference: https://listeningplace.org.uk/volunteer/

Address

3 Meade Mews
London
SW1P4EG

Website

http://listeningplace.org.uk/

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