A WORCESTER charity has rocketed into the 21st century with new state-of-the-art communications equipment, thanks to the Worcester News and two city-based organisations.

The Worcester Samaritans, which offers support to thousands of people in distress, made its own plea for help through the Worcester News in January.

It needed money to buy a new modern phone system - a vital link to the majority of people it helps support - and was appealing to local businesses and groups. Within a week, Worcester Lions Club and Sanctuary Housing had offered donations enabling the charity to buy a new £2,500 phone system.

Samaritans deputy director Michael Shrubb said:"We are over the moon. We were very surprised that we had a response so quickly.

"The biggest thing is to say a big thank-you to the Worcester News for the story and to Worcester Lions and Sanctuary Housing. We would not have been able to do it without their help."

He said the new system, installed two weeks ago, includes headsets as well as handsets, which make it easier to deal with long calls.

There are separate lines for the helpline and the office phone, it will link to the computer and can be used for text messaging.

The Worcester office now has one of the most sophisticated systems of any Samaritans branch in the country.

"It is a telephone communications system which will allow us to cope with all the different forms of communications that are popular now, and that includes text messaging," said Mr Shrubb.

In a pilot scheme run last year the Samaritans received 150,000 text messages - 61 per cent of those texting the Samaritans were aged 15 to 24.

"It is going to last us for the next 20 years and it is an investment by the Lions and Sanctuary Housing in the future for people who need the Samaritans."

Worcester Lions provided £2,000 and Sanctuary donated £500. Mr Shrubb said demand for the Samaritans in Worcester was continuing to increase with a 41.2 per cent increase in phone and face-to-face contacts in January compared with January 2006, while there was a 10.6 per cent rise in February this year over the same period last year.

He said the group was also seriously short of volunteers. Anyone aged over 18 who can do one 3.5-hour shift each week and a five-hour night duty once a month is welcome.

All volunteers receive training.

For more information call into the Samaritans offices in Sansome Place, Worcester, or phone 01905 21121.