Time & date: From 7:45am to 10:30am Thursday 5th February 2009
Location: London Stock Exchange, Paternoster Square EC4M 7LS   
Contact: Claire Duncan   
Phone: +44 (0)20 8394 8345   
Email: c.duncan@samaritans.org
Out of hours press phone: +44 (0)7943 809162   
 

Londoners beat Winter blues with giant stress balls and free furry slippers

Samaritans is bringing a smile to the capital’s workers with giant stress balls and free slippers to highlight the charity’s national fundraising initiative, Stress Down Day.

See more photographs from the day

Samaritans will be holding a photo call outside the London Stock Exchange on Thursday 5th February from 7:45am to 10:30am featuring three human stress balls offering city workers complimentary pairs of Winter warmer slippers and a stress-relieving squeeze to generate interest in the charity’s national fundraising day.

Stress Down Day is taking place on Friday 6th February and employees nationwide are getting involved by paying £2 to swap their shoes for slippers in the office, sponsoring colleagues to switch off emails for an hour, and creating relaxation zones that staff can hire throughout the day. All proceeds will go towards funding Samaritans’ 24-hour emotional support helpline.

Samaritans' Head of Fundraising, Hazel Norval, said: "Stress Down Day is the ultimate dress down Friday; a perfect opportunity to give employees a relaxing and morale-boosting break in the office whilst raising vital funds to keep Samaritans' service up and running through these difficult times.”

Please contact Claire Duncan on 020 8394 8345/ 07943 809162 to line up interviews with Samaritans’ spokespeople, available at the photo call.   

Visit www.stressdownday.org for more information about Stress Down Day.

See more photographs from the day

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Notes to editors
It is the aim of Samaritans to make emotional health a mainstream issue.  Samaritans' vision is for a society where fewer people die by suicide because people are able to share feelings of emotional distress openly without fear of being judged.  Samaritans believes that offering people the opportunity to be listened to in confidence, and accepted without prejudice, can alleviate despair and suicidal feelings.

Samaritans is a registered charity, founded in 1953, which offers 24-hour confidential emotional support to anyone in emotional distress.  The service is offered by 16,534 trained volunteers and is entirely dependent on voluntary support.  Across the UK, you can call Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 (1850 60 90 90 in the Republic of Ireland) email jo@samaritans.org, write to Samaritans at Chris, PO Box 9090, Stirling, FK8 2SA, or if you are deaf or hard of hearing use the single national minicom number 08457 90 91 92. Log on to www.samaritans.org for more information. Calls from BT will be charged at up to 2 pence per minute at all times. A call set-up fee of 7 pence applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers' charges may vary.