BEHIND the doors of a small office block in Amersham, volunteers patiently listen to those desperately in need of a shoulder to cry on.

The 125 volunteers who make up The Samaritans of the Chilterns, based in Station Road, Amersham, take calls and welcome visitors from across South Buckinghamshire.

Hazel, whose last name is not given in line with The Samaritans' code of practice, is the centre's director.

She has worked as a Samaritan since her days at university and more than 20 years later, Hazel is more committed than ever.

She said: "The reason you keep doing it is because you realise it is so valuable.

"The calls just continue to increase in number. I think that with life the way it is, people have fewer and fewer people nearby to support them.

"On a personal level I've got something out of it. It certainly puts your own problems into perspective.

"You feel privileged that people will share very personal thoughts and feelings with you. That is a privilege that they will trust you with that."

Since the Chiltern branch opened in 1968 it has received more than half a million calls.

Last year, the branch, which receives about 80 calls a day, got a boost when it underwent a £65,000 facelift and extension to improve services, the demand for which is ever increasing.

Hazel explained: "When I meet with people from other branches they can be surprised at the number of calls here.

"But a lot of people have high pressure jobs in this area and there is a lot of stress that goes with that.

"Some people, of course, are not as well off and have their own problems often with money.

"We are a very typical branch in the number of calls we get but it's different to being right in the centre of a metropolitan area the problems are more varied. We have got a large rural community too."

According to The Samaritans, someone attempts to commit suicide in the UK every three minutes and in the past 15 years attempts by young men to take their own lives have doubled.

Hazel believes suicidal feelings often arise because people have no proper way to tell someone how they really feel.

"Things are different these days, life is much more pressured. We find people have already talked to friends and relatives but they feel they don't want to continually burden them.

"People may feel they don't want to involve them at all."

Samaritans talk to people with all sorts of problems ranging from alcoholism, guilt, and illness to sexual abuse, redundancy and debt the list goes on.

Hazel added: "We want to reach people before they get to the point of feeling suicidal. Once you get to the point of feeling desperate you can go into your own world.

"It's normally two or three things coming together at once to make it difficult for them to cope."

But Hazel is quick to add that it is not up to volunteers to "save" the lives of those who contact the centre in a suicidal state.

"What we try and help people appreciate when they come here is that callers have the right to make their own decisions.

"At the end of the day it's their decision whether they live or die.

"But if we are there we want to make sure that if they have decided to die then they have talked it through.

"We want to feel that it is a really thought-through decision.

"We have to respect people's right to take their own life ultimately. Of course, we hope by being here that fewer people will commit suicide."

The number of calls made to The Samaritans is going up and up, year after year.

In the UK about five million calls are made to the charity's volunteers every year and e-mail is increasingly used as another means of contact.

But for Hazel the growing number of calls is a comforting new trend rather than a cause for concern.

"This is a good thing. The fact that calls are going up means people are aware they can contact us. The more people realise that the better."

She added: "It doesn't necessarily mean more people are feeling suicidal, just that more people are prepared to talk about it."

Fact file

The Samaritans organisation was founded by Chad Varah, a priest, but it is not a religious organisation.

The first call to the Samaritans was received on November 2, 1953.

There are more than 20,000 volunteers working for The Samaritans in the UK.

Samaritans have to be over 17 but come from a wide range of social and professional backgrounds.

In the UK there are up to 7,000 deaths by suicide each year, 25 per cent more than die in road accidents and ten times more than are murdered.

Suicide attempts by young men have doubled since 1985.

If paid the national average wage, volunteers of The Samaritans would cost the country £13, 936,000.

The Samaritans is a registered charity and receives its funding through fundraising, donations and covenants.

On average each volunteer with The Samaritans takes more than 200 calls a year.

The Samaritans man 498 helplines 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Around 70 per cent of volunteers are female and 30 per cent male.

The Samaritans of the Chilterns are at 149 Station Road, Amersham, Bucks HP6 5DJ. Tel: (01494) 432000. Call them on or e-mail them anonymously on samaritans@anon.penet.fi or visit http://www.samaritans.org.uk