The Good Samaritan. Chad Varah RIP

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The pious who would insulate their little darlings from basic biology and proper sex ed might do well to look at the reason for Varah setting up his first helpline, and I shouldn't have to make mention of it in the twenty first century.

The Reverend Chad Varah founded Samaritans with one telephone line and saw it grow into a world-wide organisation helping thousands of people to avoid the ultimate act of desperation.

He was never a conventional clergyman. His chief concern from the start was to help individuals rather than spreading the gospel...........

Standing in at the funeral of a 14-year-old girl, he asked the undertaker why the girl was being buried in unconsecrated ground, and was told she had killed herself because she had mistaken menstruation for a serious disease.

Dr Varah recalled his reaction: "I stood at the end of the grave and I said, little girl, I never knew you, but I promise you that you have changed my life and I shall teach children about sex.more