Van men show their softer side (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Van men show their softer side

9:15am Tuesday 8th January 2008 in Swindon By Hayley Court

WHITE van men could soon be undergoing a reputation transformation - thanks to a Swindon charity.

In the past few years those at the wheel of the vehicles have earned a reputation as pushy and aggressive motorists.

But now the Samaritans want to show the softer side to the white van men of Swindon - while raising awareness of its own cause.

It wants white van owning volunteers to display the charity's contact details to the side of their vans, so people all over Swindon can pick up details on how to contact them.

The stickers are paid for by the Samaritans and are put on to the van by volunteers from the charity.

And Colin Fitzgerald has become the first to volunteer for the scheme - having the Samaritans logo on his R & F decorator's van.

Colin, from Nine Elms, was decorating the Samaritans' offices in Curtis Street when he heard about the scheme.

"It seemed like a great idea and I'm all for helping out a good cause," he said.

"It doesn't do me any harm but I guess it shows I care - hopefully it'll catch on with other white van men."

Martin Forbes, of the Samaritans, said: "We never thought of it as cleaning up the stereotypical image of the website van man but I guess it does.

"Another idea we though of was to put leaflets under the wipers of parked vans telling them about the scheme.

"You never know, they may be so happy they haven't got a parking ticket that they'll give it a go."

There are already 100 volunteers manning the Samaritan phones in Swindon but the charity is desperate for more.

Samaritans also go into prisons and schools to help train other volunteers and publicise the group's work Martin said: "It would be great to get some retired people on board. All you do is a shift in the week and a night shift once a month but it makes the world of difference to our callers.

"We are really pleased with the project and we hope it catches on through other generous drivers like Colin."

Anyone who would like to become a Samaritan can telephone 01793 512490 or visit the website at www.samaritans.org.

For those in need of emotional support the Samaritans are available to listen on 08457 909090.