A SUICIDE prevention charity is appealing for help after discovering its Northwich base is in need of urgent structural repairs.

The Samaritans of Mid Cheshire, which also covers Winsford and Knutsford, has operated from a terraced house in Manchester Road for 20 years.

But after recently deciding to have the external rendering replaced, the charity found the gable wall needed £30,000 worth of urgent repair work.

This came as a shock for the Northwich team, and a further blow came when the insurance company informed them their policy would not cover the work.

Northwich Guardian: Crumbling brickworks (Mid Chesire Samaritans)Crumbling brickworks (Mid Chesire Samaritans) (Image: Mid Cheshire Samaritans)

Samaritans of Mid Cheshire director, Annie Mills, said: "I was absolutely gutted. It was like a punch in the stomach.

"We’ve got enough in the bank to cover our operating costs going forward, and for what the rendering works were going to be, but we don’t have enough to cover another £30,000 to sort out the building works.

"We did challenge the insurance company, but when you look at the policy, it’s clear that they don’t cover that particular bit, as it is age related."

The Samaritans of Mid Cheshire took the decision to become financially independent from the Samaritans central charity five years ago.

This gives them control over their budget and fundraising activities, but it also makes them ultimately responsible for the building.

The Northwich based team consists of 65 volunteers, who do about 200 hours unpaid work each, every year.

They answer around 10,000 calls and 2,500 emails annually, supporting people of all ages who are in distress, despair, feeling suicidal or just in need of someone to talk to, at whatever time of day or night.

Northwich Guardian: Annie added: “We don’t want to ask for money, rather, we want to inspire people to want to support us.

“I’ve been contacting a lot of people. I haven’t had any ‘no’ responses, but I haven't had any ‘yes’ responses either. But we're hopeful.

“Grants are often allocated once a year, which means if you miss the deadline, you’re out of luck.

“I'm sure Samaritans centrally will help, but we don't know how much at this stage.

"We’re hopeful that we’ll get some money from local business, or the council, but it won’t cover it all because no one is giving out that sort of money.

“It’s been a really good location for us, right opposite the train station, and near the traffic lights, so we’re quite visible.

“We've been in Northwich 60 years next year, and we want to stay. We want to be part of this community.”

If you would like to help Samaritans of Mid Cheshire, you can do so by visiting their funding page at: Samaritans of Mid-Cheshire: Help us be here when it matters (enthuse.com)