18/10/2026
💚 Meet Kev64 – 33 Years of Listening…So Far! 💚
Our longest-serving volunteer, samba-drummer extraordinaire and wobble-free paddleboarding aficionada – Kev64 has been going strong for 33 years and he’s not done yet 💚
Samaritans: The Job That Had Everything… Except a Salary!
The job advert caught my eye straight away: no experience needed, no company car, no salary — and maybe not even a thank-you!
Perfect. My sort of job!
I’d recently become single again after a difficult patch in my life, and suddenly I had time, space and a real urge to do something meaningful. I felt ready to turn my attention towards helping others.
So began my Samaritans journey.
Training took place every Tuesday night, and I soon got into the swing of things. I’d stop at the garage for petrol on my way home and be greeted with, “Hello Kev64!” More than once, I’d forgotten to take off my Samaritans name badge! I’d drive home listening to the Prodigy and M People.
My very first listening duty was on 16 November 1993.
Little did I know then that I was embarking on a journey that would span more than three decades, introduce me to some incredible people and become such an important part of my life.
Sleeping Bags, Pagers and the Occasional Bomb Scare!
Overnight shifts ran from 10pm to 8am. Calls were mostly local, so we weren’t quite as busy as we are today. We’d bring our sleeping bags, grab some sleep between calls, ring off at the end of the shift and head straight off to work. Nothing like very little beauty sleep before the working day began!
Over the years, I’ve attended residential courses, leaders’ weekends and the York conference, which was genuinely inspiring. I’ve taken on lots of different roles, including becoming a leader.
And being a leader certainly kept you on your toes! Back then, we had to carry a pager everywhere while on duty. One memorable occasion meant heading into the branch to meet the director so we could search the building, following a bomb warning! You never knew what the next shift might bring.
From Paper Rotas to Modern Technology!
I’m still the custodian of our branch rota. In the early days, creating it meant wrestling with Excel, juggling everyone’s availability and shift preferences across six-week periods. It could take up to seven hours to get everything sorted!
Thankfully, technology has moved on. We graduated from Excel to Bertie and then to Three Rings. Every step forward has brought its own learning curve.
33 Years On…
Honestly, where has the time gone?
Along the way, I’ve met some truly wonderful people, all from different backgrounds, each with their own experiences and stories to tell. That’s one of the things I’ve always loved about Samaritans: you never stop learning about people, or about life itself.
And after all these years, listening remains the most important skill of all.
When you pick up the phone, you never know what someone needs to say, what they might be going through or how much it means simply to have someone there to listen. You may never know the difference you’ve made, but there’s a quiet sense of fulfilment in knowing you’ve been there for someone at a moment when they’re struggling.
Life changes. People change. Technology certainly changes! But the need for someone to listen never goes away.
I’m incredibly glad that job advert caught my eye all those years ago. And as for what comes next? I’m hoping to keep going for as long as I can.
Thirty-three years down, and hopefully plenty more to go 💚
💚 A simple but oh so heartfelt thanks to Kev - for your continued volunteering, your kindness, support and passion to be there for anyone who is struggling and the difference you have made to so many 💚
