Lifeline moves into online crisis support

Welcome to the April/May edition of our enewsletter, I hope you enjoy reading it. At Lifeline we’re always working on new initiatives, and currently we have a brand new project called ‘Lifeline Online’.

The first service out of this project is a trial of our Lifeline Online Chat service, running from April until early July 2011, 8pm till midnight (AEST), 7 days a week.

Lifeline Online Chat provides web-based crisis support in the form of instant message style one-on-one sessions with trained volunteers.  The first of it’s kind in Australia. The service is an online version of our 24-hour crisis phone line, 13 11 14, and in the same way it is anonymous, confidential and non-judgmental.

Our Lifeline Online Chat is an initiative that will allow us to reach out and help more people in crisis than ever before. It’s very exciting.

I am excited about the potential of Lifeline Online and our capacity to provide more opportunities to connect with help-seekers.  We look forward to continuing to bring innovative new ways of offering easily accessible services to all Australians through the Internet.  For more information on the trial, see the article featured below.

Kind regards

For your chance to win please email marketing@lifeline.org.au and in 25 words or less telling us - what makes you happy?

The Happiness & its Causes conference will be held on the 16th-17th June 2011 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. Please refer to the terms and conditions before entering.

Fetch Oscar designer jeweller Robbie Koster is proudly supporting Lifeline by donating $5 from each sale of his popular handmade cufflinks to Lifeline.

These beautiful handcrafted cufflinks are available online  and at selected retail outlets.

These cufflinks are a great gift idea and you’ll be supporting Lifeline.

Gambling is a popular pastime in Australia, with many people having a punt every now and then. For some however it can turn into a serious problem and have a detrimental affect in all areas of their lives.  Brendan Fevola’s recent revelations on his gambling addiction and how it led him to attempt suicide highlights the importance of getting help as soon as gambling starts to become a problem. Recognising and accepting that gambling is getting out of hand can be difficult and many people minimise it or deny that they have a problem.

Indicators that your gambling is starting to become a problem include:

• Spending more money and time than you intend to on gambling
• Feeling guilty and ashamed about your gambling
• Trying to win back your losses
• Missing important things like family time, work, leisure activities or appointments because of gambling
• Thinking about gambling every day
• Having arguments with friends and family about your gambling
• Lying or stealing to get money for gambling
• Getting into debt because of gambling

• First of all – talk to someone you trust about your gambling. This will be a first step in finding the best way forward to cut down or stop
• Call the national Gambling Helpline (1800 858 858 – 24hrs) and they can talk to you confidentially or send out self-help tools and information
• Contact a Gambling Help Service. Just one session with a professional counsellor can help you assess your situation and set up a plan to suit your needs
• Have a close friend as an ally who will check in with you and support you to stick to your plan
• See a financial counsellor to look at money going ‘in’ and ‘out’ so you can decide if the balance is right and get help to manage any debts 

Asking for help is not always easy, but seeking support will help you deal with problem gambling and get your life back on track.  If you or someone you know is struggling to handle their problem gambling, Lifeline’s crisis support line is available 24 hours on 13 11 14.  Self-help information about problem gambling is also available on our website.

The service commenced on 8 April on a trial basis for 3 months, between the hours of 8pm and 12 midnight (AEST), seven days a week. Response has been exceptional with people contacting the service within minutes of its launch.

Lifeline Online Crisis Support Chat offers one-to-one sessions with a trained online crisis supporter. Using chat technology, people can chat about issues ranging from mental health, stress and relationship breakdown to suicide.  This online service is saving lives by offering people who may not be comfortable calling Lifeline’s 13 14 11 telephone service a different medium to connect anonymously with trained volunteers.

If you or someone you know is experiencing a crisis call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or access our online chat service  from 8pm to midnight every day.

Our dedicated volunteers at Lifeline have been providing the Australian Community with telephone crisis support services for over 48 years. Volunteers are vital in enabling and supporting Lifeline’s services and everyday we are looking to recruit and train new volunteers. We asked a telephone volunteer* from Lifeline South Coast to share her experiences with us and here are her responses:

Q&A – Lifeline Telephone Volunteer

1. What made you decide to volunteer for Lifeline?

That is a very good question. I am a retired teacher who would love nothing more than snuggling up on the lounge with my cats and a good book. But I am also a very busy person. I volunteer for the electoral office, the local eisteddfod and the graduate school of medicine, just to name a few… I had been thinking about Lifeline for a while and even had the information pack sent out to me. A few things changed with my commitments and I thought “here is the gap, here is my opportunity.” And I haven’t looked back.

2. How long have you been a volunteer for?

I am still a probationary telephone volunteer with Lifeline South Coast. I trained in the April 2010 course in Nowra which was the first group through the new National Training program. I have just started helping out with the new group of students (2011 students) and am finding this very exciting.

3. What kind of commitment does it take to volunteer at Lifeline?

It takes a real commitment. After the initial training is complete, we do a four hour shift once a fortnight. I have been doing a few more than that to sharpen my skills but the minimum here is once a fortnight.

4. What does your job as a Lifeline telephone volunteer include?

Here at Lifeline South Coast, we have emergency Tim Tams in the fridge to help telephone volunteers get through those tricky shifts. And I LOVE the Tim Tams! But if you think about it… the Tim Tams are symbolic of our role as a telephone volunteer. We too are there for the emergency, when the going gets tough and the caller just needs that little bit of sweetness, that little bit of understanding.

It is a tricky role because obviously no two calls are the same. I’ll use a cooking metaphor to explain this one… As a starting point you need to build up a well-stocked pantry, all those tools that help you with a call. There are the basic ingredients that you use in every recipe or every call. Sometimes all you have to do is open a tin of baked beans to give the caller what they need. But other times you need to pull out five or ten ingredients to get you through.

But I really do love the Tim Tams!

5. What do you feel you gain from volunteering for Lifeline?

My role as a Lifeline South Coast telephone volunteer is a very important part of my life. I’m sure most telephone volunteers would agree, but the role helps to remind me what is important in my life and it encourages me to consider my own values, strengths and weaknesses. I enjoy the company of wonderful staff and volunteers and love the learning!

6. What’s the best part of volunteering for Lifeline?

Helping our callers. Every once in a while there is a caller with whom you have a real and genuine understanding of… a real connection to. For some reason you were able to really connect with them and by the end of the call you know you have made a real difference in their life.

If you are interested in volunteering opportunities with Lifeline email us or visit our website.

* Names have been omitted for privacy reasons

The annual Happiness & Its Causes conference will be held on 16th-17th June 2011 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

2011’s conference will feature His Holiness the Dalai Lama, one of the world’s most revered spiritual leaders.

The conference organisers have generously donated 100 tickets to Lifeline in recognition of our valuable service to the community during the recent spate of natural disasters. The tickets have been allocated, with the majority going to our community recovery officers in Brisbane who assisted throughout the Queensland cyclone and floods.

Our community recovery officers selflessly gave their time to support the community, even though many were affected by the disasters themselves. They are very inspirational and well deserving recipients.

We will also give tickets to some of our key corporate sponsors, to recognise the generosity that enables us to continue our work in the community.

Those who wish to buy tickets to the conference should mention the word ‘Lifeline’ to receive a 10% discount.

To purchase tickets or for more information visit the Happiness and Its Causes conference website

Many people do not feel the need to know anything about suicide until it confronts them personally through the tragic loss of a loved one. It is often only then that people ask “Why didn’t I know the signs, what should I have done? What could I have done?”

Education and training about suicide and the potential for effective intervention to save lives is part of Australia’s National Suicide Prevention Strategy.

An example of training available in Australia is LivingWorks, which is specialist suicide prevention training that for nearly 15 years has been used to equip over 70,000 people in Australian communities from all walks of life through a 2 day ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) program. ASIST has been through a comprehensive review and evaluation . The evaluation results from this study found that ASIST trainees demonstrated greater relevant knowledge and positive attitudes, increased intervention skills, and increased interventions.

Having friends in high places is very important.  Quite often, not-for-profit organisations spend all their time and resources providing their services directly to the people who need them, and so find it difficult to find time to influence the movers and shakers in Government.

However, people with influence can achieve great results.  That’s why Lifeline decided to create a Parliamentary Friends of Lifeline group. The group is made up of members of the Federal House of Representatives and the Federal Senate and will help Lifeline remain a top priority with policy makers.

The co-group is chaired by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, the Hon Chris Bowen MP and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the Hon Julie Bishop MP.  The group has three patrons, Senator Gary Humphries, Senator Nick Xenophon and Senator Rachel Siewert.

The Launch was attended by 30 members of the group, a number of Senators as well as Lifeline staff and Lifeline’s National Patron John Brogden.

Pictured – Minister The Hon Chris Bowen with The Hon Julie Bishop and Lifeline’s National Patron John Brogden

As Mandy and Simon from Pymble NSW made a commitment to each other by getting engaged on February 26th, they also decided to make a commitment to Lifeline by asking friends and family to donate to Lifeline in lieu of any gifts. To date they have raised over $1,500.

The couple decided to register their engagement as an event on the Everyday Hero website when they lost the brother of a close friend suffering from depression to suicide. Family and friends could donate to Lifeline on the website and share messages of good wishes to the couple online.

If you would like Lifeline to be the beneficiary of a significant event or to raise funds in general register online at Every Day Hero.  Your efforts will help a qualified Lifeline telephone volunteer answer more calls from Australians in distress.