Tributes have poured in for Chad Varah, the founder of the Samaritans, who died on Thursday aged 95.Anita Lawlor, a volunteer representative of the Samaritans in Ireland, said she was saddened by the news.
"Chad Varah was such an important person. His foresight in seeing that people need a listening ear is why there are 15,000 volunteers in the UK and Ireland, with 1,800 in Ireland, North and South. His legacy for those volunteers is the very rewarding experience which we have as part of the Samaritans Ms Lawlor said it was important for people's emotional health to be able to talk about their problems. "
"Samaritan volunteers give them the time and space to do that."
"His vision went from one phone when he started in 1953 to over 202 branches in the UK and Ireland today. It is in existence for over 50 years, a lot longer than most charities," she added.
Both Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Prince of Wales described the contribution of Mr Varah, a Church of England vicar as extraordinary.
“He was an utterly remarkable man who founded an organisation which has saved the lives of countless people since 1953," said Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, and patron to the Samaritans.
"He was an outstanding humanitarian and a great Briton."
Dr Williams said: "He made a unique contribution to the life of our whole society, changing attitudes to suicide and bringing a distinctively pastoral and wholly non-judgmental approach to people in need.
"His instinct that a sympathetic ear could make a difference has proved to be enormously important to those who felt alone and with nowhere to turn.
"His vision and energy in the foundation of the Samaritans and its subsequent development is a legacy that stretches far beyond the church and far beyond these shores; one that will continue to bring help to those who 'just need someone to talk to'. He will be greatly missed."
Mr Varah, who set up the support group from the crypt of his church in the City of London more than 50 years ago, died peacefully in his sleep at a hospital in Basingstoke, Hants, said a spokesman for the charity.
Mr Varah founded the charity in 1953 "to befriend the suicidal and despairing".
Mr Varah was born at Barton-upon-Humber, Lincolnshire, the eldest of nine children. His father was vicar of Barton-upon-Humber and a canon.
He studied at Worksop College, Notts, before going up to Keble College, Oxford, where he took a degree in politics, philosophy and economics.
To subsidise his vicar's salary and to meet the financial demands of a growing family in the 1940s, Mr Varah built a second career as a children's comic writer, notably as one of the brains behind strip cartoon spaceman Dan Dare.
His wife, Doris, died in 1993, and he is survived by four of his five children.
His son, Michael Varah, who served as an elected Trustee of Samaritans from July 2005 until his death in April this year, once said: "My father described this befriending of the suicidal thus: There are in this world, in every country, people who seem to be 'ordinary', but who, when meeting a suicidal person, turn out to be extraordinary.
"If asked for advice, they say: 'You're the only person who can advise you well - what do you think you should do?' They have no message. They do not preach. They have nothing to sell. We call them 'Samaritans'."
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