The Give and Take scheme in Newtownards which is ran by Include Youth had a hugely successful coffee afternoon this week in order to raise money for the Samaritans and suicide awareness. The Espresso Yourself event was organized and delivered by the young people of the scheme and saw many turn out for it including local MLA’s.

Speaking after the event Nicola Thompson, Senior Youth Worker with Include Youth, said: "A huge amount of credit needs to go to the young people who thought of hosting a coffee afternoon for the Samaritans and suicide awareness. From the outset they organized, planned, promoted and hosted this successful event."

In total over £170 was raised in just four hours. The event was very well supported by local people including the local MLAs Mick Nesbit and Kellie Armstrong.”

One of the young people responsible for the event Joe said: “I think it’s great that we can try and raise some money. Suicide is a big thing among young people – it affects us the most and this event is about us as young people trying to help out.”

Deirdre Walsh, Director of Bangor and North Down Samaritans said: “We are so grateful to  Include Youth and the young people in the Give and Take Scheme for choosing Samaritans as the charity for their  coffee afternoon.

“Samaritans is entirely dependent on fundraising and donations in order to maintain its service to the community   and donations to Samaritans are used to help us to support our callers and also to attract and retain new volunteers so that we can reach an even greater number of people.

“But this event is not just of value for raising funds for our branch. It's also a really good opportunity for us to raise awareness of our services to the young people in the local community who may be in need of someone to listen to them without judgement or advice.”

Anyone can contact Samaritans, you don't have to be suicidal. You can call us for free anytime from any phone on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org

Bangor and North Down Branch of Samaritans is located at 92 Dufferin Avenue, Bangor, BT20 3AD