Reviews the operations of the United Kingdom & Ireland Samaritans. In 1996, they received over 4 million telephone calls, 3500 contacts on email & more than 130,000 drop-in visits. This increase of 9% over the previous year is partly due to the success of their One Number service. Dependent on 20,900 volunteers, this number fell by 3% & led to a major recruitment campaign to address this serious issue. 1996 publications focus on encouraging people to talk openly about suicide& depression.