Winchester Samaritans turns 50 with a £50,000 target: a £5 raffle with £3,700 of prizes, a Guildhall dinner on 21 November and carols at St Peter's on 16 December.

Winchester and District Samaritans is marking 50 years of answering the phone to people in crisis, and it wants to raise £50,000 to keep doing it.

The branch has set out how it plans to get there on its own 50th birthday page. Two dates are left this year:

  • Saturday 21 November: a fundraising dinner at Winchester Guildhall
  • Wednesday 16 December: an evening of carols at St Peter’s Church on Jewry Street

A listening-themed walk around the city was pencilled in for 6 September. The branch has not published a report of it, so we cannot say whether it went ahead.

The £5 raffle

The branch’s volunteers have put together a 50th birthday raffle. Tickets cost £5 each. The prizes were donated by local businesses and are worth £3,700 in total, according to the branch.

The headline prizes it names are:

  • a luxury afternoon tea for four
  • a round of golf for four
  • Boomtown tickets
  • a signed Manchester United shirt

The prize board on the branch’s page adds more: tours and tastings at Hambledon Vineyard and Hattingley Valley, a family ticket for the Watercress Line, set lunch with wine at Limewood, afternoon tea at Lainston House, a clay pigeon shoot for two, a spa session, a chocolate-making class, a weekend’s family camping and a case of wine.

The prize board from the Winchester and District Samaritans 50th birthday raffle page, showing nineteen donated prizes including vineyard tours, afternoon teas, golf, Boomtown tickets and a Watercress Line family ticket
The prize board from the branch's raffle page. Image: Winchester and District Samaritans.

Tickets are sold online through Zeffy. The draw takes place at the carol concert on 16 December.

The raffle is licensed. The branch’s page records that Winchester City Council granted a licence under the Gambling Act 2005, registration number LOTTERY460, reference 26/01364/GALOTT. That is the small society lottery registration the council issues to local charities, and it is the thing to look for before buying a ticket in any charity draw.

What the branch does

Samaritans is a listening service. Anyone can call 116 123 free, at any hour, on any day of the year, and the calls are answered by volunteers at branches like this one.

The Winchester branch is at 13 Upper High Street, Winchester SO23 8UT, according to its page on the Samaritans site. The same page lists the other ways it wants help this year:

  • buy a Winchester Samaritans 50 window sticker
  • become a corporate sponsor
  • donate a prize for an auction of promises
  • give coppers and foreign currency to the branch’s pennies appeal
  • become a listening volunteer

Donations go through the branch’s JustGiving page, which lists it as registered charity 1173634. JustGiving puts the cost of two volunteers taking calls for one hour at £10, a three-hour shift at £30 and a 2am to 6am night shift at £50.

What it means for you

  • If you want to help, the cheapest route is the raffle. £5 a ticket, drawn on 16 December, with a real licence number behind it.
  • If you want an evening out for the cause, the Guildhall dinner is on 21 November. The branch has not published a time or ticket price. We have asked for them and will add them when they arrive.
  • The carol evening on 16 December is at St Peter’s on Jewry Street. Again, no start time has been published yet. December in Winchester is filling up: Maggie’s carol concert at the Cathedral is on 4 December and the Cathedral’s own carol services run from 20 December.
  • If you need to talk, 116 123 is free and open now. You do not need to be in crisis to call.

The Guildhall is due to close for refurbishment from March 2027, so the November dinner falls within its last few months before the works.

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