Farewell Chad
I’m very sad to hear that Chad Varah, the founder of Samaritans, has died, aged 95. Read about him HERE. Samaritans was founded by Chad more than half a century ago, and still provides a 24/7 telephone (and text) service for thousands of distressed people. It’s manned by volunteers and still the biggest service of its kind in the world. I am a Young Ambassador for Samaritans, and when I get my act together and regsiter it, chairman of Samaritans all-party group.
Tizzy said on November 9th, 2007 at 2:56 pm:
What an extraordinary man. Below is an extract from the above Samaraitans link, that gives a hint of his character:
Dr Varah was a man of wide interests, originality and practicality - notably as the brains behind strip cartoon spaceman Dan Dare.
In 1935, Dr Varah conducted his first funeral, as an assistant curate – “my debut in the ministry”. The funeral was for a 13 -year-old girl who had taken her own life - because she feared she was seriously ill with venereal disease and would die a slow, painful and shameful death. In fact, she had just started to menstruate. Varah vowed at her graveside to devote himself to helping other people overcome the sort of isolation and ignorance which had caused the girl to take her own life – through a combination of education, and access to emotional support in times of need.
As the priest of various parishes in London and the North, Dr Varah proved to be one of the earlier proponents of sex education, particularly to poorly educated young people. As a result he earned the label of “a dirty old man by the time I was 25!”
Votedave said on November 9th, 2007 at 5:54 pm:
If he looked old at 25, he did well to last another 70 years!
RIP, Chad, and thank you.
canvas said on November 9th, 2007 at 6:02 pm:
What an amazing person.
RIP Chad Varah.
Sue said on November 9th, 2007 at 9:08 pm:
What a forward thinking man he was. To talk about sex education in the 30’s must have been very controversial, but well done him for doing it…maybe saving the lives of many other young girls even before he thought of setting up the Samaritans. May he rest in peace.