SOS Amitié
SOS Amitié is a French federation of several regional charitable organizations aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope, or at risk of suicide throughout France, often through their telephone helpline. This helps people with their mental state and how they cope with life, this helps them regain their happiness and helps them fight off the worries and support them in every way in form of their state of their personal life.
History
The first association was created in France in 1960 in Boulogne-Billancourt, following the meeting of philanthropist Georges Lillaz with Pastor Jean Casalis and his wife, the first listeners of the SOS Amitié Île-de-France website, choosing secularism in 1970. It received 7,500 calls in the first year. The federation was recognized as a public utility by a decree on February 15, 1967.This concept of charitable organization originated in Great Britain under the name "The Samaritans" following the suicide of a 14-year-old English girl who thought she had contracted a sexually transmitted infection when she was actually menstruating. Reverend Chad Varah then placed an advertisement in The Times on November 2, 1953: "Before you commit suicide, call me at M.A.N. 90.00", inventing the world's first telephone listening service to help those contemplating suicide, the desperate, isolated individuals, and anyone who felt unheard by others.
Operation
Now receiving over 700,000 calls per year, with just over a tenth of them in the Paris region, more than 1,700 volunteers take turns 24/7, 365 days a year to ensure continuous listening. The service is free, anonymous, confidential, and the dialogue is non-directive. Independent of any political or religious movement, the organization operates thanks to subsidies from public authorities, donations from individuals or entities, and patronage.Fifty local organizations, spread across metropolitan France, including eight in the Île-de-France region, are grouped within the Federation SOS Amitié France.
On the Internet
In addition to telephone listening, SOS Amitié has established an online listening service via instant messaging in a web interface, following the same rules and ethics as over the phone. A chat dialogue is available every day between 1:00 PM and 3:00 AM, using a shared tool with Télé Accueil. A messaging system is available for individuals, with a response time of 48 hours.SOS Amitié Internet is an organization founded under the 1901 law and affiliated with the . The organization recruits and provides specific training for a team of listeners who already have experience in telephone listening at SOS Amitié.