Samaritans volunteers are to hold a 24 hour event to mark the charity's national awareness day.

A group of volunteers from Croydon and Sutton, will be at East Croydon Station from midnight July 23, until midnight July 24, where they will be celebrating the charity's annual awareness day, 24:7.

It was decided July 24, was the ideal day to raise awareness of the charity's work. Samaritans is the only national helpline available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, offering support to those struggling to cope.

Beryl Oxley, branch director of Croydon and Sutton Samaritans, said: "East Croydon is a 24/7 railway station, so it is fitting to mark our annual awareness day at the station.

"By having a 24 hour presence we aim to show people that there's someone there to listen, even in the dead of night at 3am."

The charity recently launched a partnership with Network Rail in an attempt to reduce the number of suicides on the railway.

Andrew Bolton, Southern's Station Manager at East Croydon, said: "We are more than happy to have volunteers from Samaritans with us for 24 hours at the station.

"We work closely with the charity on initiatives to do with the railway and we fully support them in their efforts to raise awareness of the superb work carried out by their volunteers."