If calling us isn’t for you, please use our live Chat Service to talk to a GibSams Volunteer Listener in real-time, online.
Our chat service is open every day of the year including holidays from:
6pm-11pm everyday
So why use the live chat?
Sometimes typing can be more comfortable than talking; sometimes talking on the phone isn’t an option.
Our trained Volunteer Listeners will read your messages and respond in real time, helping you work through what’s on your mind.
We won’t judge or tell you what to do – no matter your spelling, punctuation or how you express yourself. You also don’t have to be suicidal to get in touch.
Whatever you’re going through, our Volunteer Listener will face it with you.
What happens when you chat with us online
You will join the waiting room
On this page, you will get an automatic message ‘Thank you for contacting us. Our listeners know you are waiting and will attend to you shortly. If you need to speak with someone urgently, please call 116 123. Once a listener is free, you will be connected to the chat’.
You type, we listen
Once the chat has started, a Volunteer Listener will listen to you and help you talk through your concerns, worries and troubles.
We give you space to be yourself
We will focus on your thoughts and feelings and ask questions to help you explore how you feel.
We won’t tell you what you should do
We won’t make decisions for you. Our advice or opinions are not important for the chat.
Frequently asked questions
Your wait time will vary – when you join the ‘waiting room’, we will send you a message if our Volunteer Listeners are on another chat. Thank you for bearing with us until then.
Once your conversation with a Volunteer Listener starts, they will respond in real-time to your messages.
You may have lost your internet connection. We will try to reconnect with you. At this point, you’ll be taken back to the waiting room. If you can, please try to get to somewhere with good internet access.
Once your chat has finished and the Listener has logged out your message is deleted automatically.
You can delete the pages from the GibSams website you have visited from your browser history. You can also delete cookies and clear web chat permissions, which show you have been on our web chat website.
You can also open a ‘private browsing’ window, which won’t show up on your browser history, for future pages you visit.
