How long do you speak for?

The talks usually last about an hour.

Do you show a video, what is it of, is it left with us, how long is it.

Yes. We show a DVD which we will need the school to provide the equipment for. This is only part of our presentation and lasts for approximately 7 minutes.

Does a teacher/member of staff need to be present?

A teacher needs to be present during the whole of the presentation.

What ages do you address?

Speakers usually address pupils from Transition Year, 5th Year and 6th Year. Please let us know if you have a different request.

Do you do more than one class per visit?

We do groups of pupils of up to roughly 30 in number. When you give us the number we will tell you if we need to make different arrangements for the size of the group.

For larger groups we need to organise either more volunteers for the day to split the group up, or we can arrange to come back on several days. These arrangements are usually negotiable.

We don’t mind if the pupils are all from the same class together or are taken from a mixture of classes.

Can a few classes be addressed in a large group like a school hall?

No. Bearing in mind that groups of much more than 30 pupils would have to be split up into smaller groups (as the presentation is interactive) we will need to bring enough volunteers to cover the large groups and will need to address them as class-sized groups. This can all be arranged with some time and planning.

My friend is a teacher and told me about you, who do I contact?

To find out more you can either fill out the query form or send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

How far from Dublin City Centre do you do?

The Dublin branch has volunteers who come from all the greater Dublin area. If you are outside this area please let us know exactly where you are and we will do our best to help. If you are too far away for our volunteers to help you we might pass your details on to another branch if there is one more convenient that does school talks.

Will there be more than one speaker?

Speakers will always be in pairs. For larger groups an extra speaker may also be necessary.

Will speakers need lunch/refreshments?

Lunch or refreshments are not necessary.

Are speakers all current Samaritans volunteers?

All speakers are fully-trained, currently-active volunteers in the Dublin branch. This allows them to speak authoritatively on the subject while maintaining the complete confidentiality that we promise our callers.

Which schools have you worked with in the past?

We do not provide a list as some schools may wish not to be mentioned in our publicity. References from a selection of schools are available on the School Talks page