UK and Eire – calls to the samaritans now free from mobiles

the samaritans describe themselves as an emotional support service, and they offer confidential advice and support via a number of different media. traditionally they’ve always been a free telephone service because lack of money should never be a barrier for someone who is in despair, but until recently mobile phone users were still charged by their network providers for these calls. in 2009, numbers with the 116 prefix were made available as freefone numbers for mobiles. the press release on the samaritans site lists the following:
116 123 will be used for an emotional support helpline, provided by Samaritans
116 111 will be used for a child helpline, provided by NSPCC (which runs ChildLine)
116 000 will be used for a missing people helpline, provided by Missing People
outside the british isles, a similar service is available through befrienders. if you want to add details of any other similar services, please feel free to add them in the comments (comments are moderated and so won’t appear immediately, but are checked daily)