PRESS RELEASE
16 December 2009
Concerns about money, relationships and health top worries for people in the South West in 2009
Cheltenham Samaritans urges people to not let their worries spiral out of control and to seek support for emotional distress this Christmas and during the coming year.
Nearly half the population in the South West (46%) has worried this year about debt and money, according to a survey published this week by Samaritans and YouGov, with almost a quarter of people (23%) describing 2009 as a bad year or their worst year ever.
The poll of more than 2,000 people across the UK asked the public to identify their five biggest worries over the past year. After money, other top-five sources of anxiety for people in the South West were problems in relationships with family and friends (reported by 34% of people) and physical health concerns (33%), followed by domestic politics (32%) and world affairs (29%).
Other key findings were:
- the South West had the fewest people in the UK worried about workplace stress (18%) but the most in the UK concerned about domestic politics (32%) and world affairs (29%);
- the region also had far fewer people worried about neighbourhood issues (5%) than London (13%) and the North East (14%) ;
- sport and how their favourite team is doing was only a worry for 2% of people in the region, less than half the national average (5%);
- while 23% of people described 2009 as a bad year, for 19% 2009 was a good year; 41% thought the year had been both good and bad, featuring ups and downs.
Cheltenham Samaritans’ Branch Director Lindsey Crane said: “In the last year, Samaritans received five million calls and many of them were about the worries identified in this survey, with approximately one in every ten calls linked to financial stress. If people don’t talk about their problems, they can build up over time and spiral into more serious emotional distress. Sharing your troubles can be a huge relief and is often the first step to finding a way of coping with the challenges that life throws at all of us. Samaritans’ trained volunteers are available 24/7 to offer confidential support to anyone feeling anxious, unhappy or distressed this Christmas and throughout the coming year.”
Cheltenham Samaritans will be open on Christmas Day and throughout the New Year to support callers who are suffering from emotional distress. Readers can help us to maintain this support by giving generously to our volunteers who will be collecting at Aldi (in Tewkesbury Road) on 18/12/09, Tesco (Bishops Cleeve) on 22/12/09 and Sainsburys (Oakley) on 23/12/09. The Branch will also be actively recruiting additional volunteers in the New Year, both to support callers and to help with fundraising, publicity and the running of the branch in Back Albert Place. Further details about volunteering opportunities within the Cheltenham branch can be found at www.cheltenhamsamaritans.org/volunteer.
A full national and regional breakdown of the survey can be found at
www.samaritans.org/pdf/WorriesSurvey-DataBreakdown-1209.pdf
For further information about the survey or to set up interviews please contact:
Graham Tandy, Publicity Officer on 07777 683448 or email publicity@cheltenhamsamaritans.org
-ENDS-
Notes to EditorsAll figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2082 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 27th - 30th November 2009. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).
Samaritans
Samaritans' vision is for a society where fewer people die by suicide because people are able to share feelings of emotional distress openly without fear of being judged. Samaritans believes that offering people the opportunity to be listened to in confidence, and accepted without prejudice, can alleviate despair and suicidal feelings.