Volunteers picked up the phone to help more than 25,000 people in need last year.

During 2014, around 70 Samaritans from Harrow answered thousands of calls for help, according to the latest figures from the suicide prevention charity.

Volunteers from the Harrow branch, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, answered a total of 25,551 calls from people suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts last year.

The figures are being released to coincide with Samaritans’ Volunteers’ Week, a national initiative that runs from today until Sunday.

Rosy Canter, director at Harrow Samaritans, said: “I’m so grateful to all of our volunteers at Harrow and want to thank them all for their dedication and hard work.

“It’s great to see how they support people in ways that work well for our callers; on the phone, via email or text message, or visiting us in the branch. “We know that people who are struggling benefit from having a real person to connect with, someone who is trained to listen to them.”

Nationwide, 21,007 volunteers responded to a total of 5,331,295 calls for help in the UK and Republic of Ireland.