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About Lifeline North West Tasmania

ABOUT LIFELINE NORTH WEST TASMANIA

General Background:

In 1963 in Sydney, the founder of Lifeline the Rev. Sir Alan Walker took the first call from the community. Lifeline North West Tasmania Inc. holds accreditation with Lifeline Australia Inc. and through that body is affiliated with Lifeline International. Lifeline North West comes under the scrutiny of the Lifeline Accreditation and Standards Program (LASP) every 3 - 4 years. There are now approximately 250 Centres operating in 15 countries around the world. Approximately 25,000 telephone counsellors answer more than six million calls each year.

Lifeline North West Tasmania Inc.

Mission Statement
"Lifeline exists to meet the needs of people in
the community, through the provision of
quality, caring and supportive telephone
counselling and other related services"

Lifeline North West Tasmania's mission is achieved through our telephone counselling service staffed by specially trained volunteers who undertake an intensive training course; the care-ring service and working alongside Lifeline Hobart. We are able to assist those who are in distress through loneliness, confusion, conflict, misfortune, emotional upheaval, helplessness, illness and potential suicide.

Lifeline North West Tasmania Inc. Background:
In March 1975 the Burnie Ministers' Fraternal called a meeting of community groups with a view to setting up a telephone support service for the North West Coast. This meeting was held in the AAP rooms above what is now the St. Luke Health Insurance office. The meeting decided to investigate a Lifeline service. On the 17th July 1975, a public meeting was held in the Council Chambers and it was agreed that a Lifeline service be set up, and the nucleus of a Board of management was elected. Mrs Fay Joyce was the foundation Chairperson and the Rev. Tom Verrier of the Burnie Uniting Church was the first Board Secretary. Other foundation members were Mr. Graeme Thompson, Mrs. Elizabeth Barron, Mr. Ray Duncombe and Mr. E. Cooper.

Between the period August 1975 and August 1976, approximately 50 persons were trained as telephone counsellors; premises were leased (and later purchased) from Uniting Church Burnie; the
Constitution was drawn up; Fundraising auxiliary was formed and activities organised. Lifeline North West Tasmania's 24 hour crisis telephone counselling service became operational on 20th September 1976. The first Annual General Meeting was held on 17th April 1977 with 670 calls being received in the first 7 months of operation.

To help finance this ministry, second-hand shops were opened in Burnie, Devonport and Ulverstone and later in East Devonport and Latrobe, and for a few years in Wynyard. The Wynyard shop recommenced in larger premises in October 2000. From the second-hand shops and surplus supply of books, the idea developed to start up specific book marts. These were held in Burnie and Devonport until 1998 and were restarted as Bookfest in 2002. In 1990 under the direction and ideas of Mrs. Elizabeth Barron, volunteers commenced operating a Kiosk at the new North West Private Hospital as another source of fundraising raising regular funds for 10 years until 2000 when operations there ceased.

The first Lifeline Button Day was held in April 1979 and is today an annual event along with Bookfest.

In January 1982, Lifeline North West Tasmania Inc. became incorporated as an Association.

In September 1998, Lifeline North West closed the two Centres at Burnie and Devonport and moved into one larger Counselling and Administration Centre in Devonport.

After 3 years, and an ongoing struggle to maintain our number of counselling volunteers - in 2001 Lifeline received support from Australian Paper to set up an additional counselling room in Burnie to ease the expense involved in travel for Burnie district counsellors. Lifeline North West acknowledges the support given by Australian Paper.

Lifeline N. W. Tas Inc. Today: