Christmas is the season of family, joy and cheer, but it is also a stressful and lonely time for many people.
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And for those less fortunate and struggling to cope, Lifeline is often their saviour – a friendly voice and good counsel during crisis.
Lifeline’s 3500 crisis support volunteers across the country will receive a record number of calls in 2016. The national charity works around the clock ensuring no suicidal person has to be alone at this time.
Michelle MacGillivray is Lifeline’s Ballarat program manager.
She says the local region’s Lifeline and UnitingCare volunteers continue to make an enormous and kind-hearted contribution towards the charity’s vision of an Australia free of suicide, whether they work at book fairs, retail shops or as crisis supporters.
“There are about 55 volunteers in Ballarat alone,” Ms MacGillivray said.
“We have one volunteer who has been with us for 28 years.”
“In contributing to our centre answering about 9,000 of the more than 920,000 calls received by the 13 11 14 this year, our volunteers have saved many individuals, friends and families the profound loss of losing someone to suicide.”
“With the national suicide toll at a 10-year-plus high, I thank our volunteers and staff for working even harder and meeting the increased needs of Australians in crisis by helping Lifeline answer more calls for help than ever before in our 45 years of history.
“While we can say we save the lives of some 100 Aussies every day, no one wants 3000 lives lost each year to be the new tragic benchmark for suicide in Australia.”
To this end, Lifeline is calling for a National Summit on Suicide and national suicide prevention plan to encourage innovation together with old-fashioned care and compassion.
Michelle MacGillivray expressed sadness that, despite Lifeline achieving a record answer rate of 86 per cent of calls in 2016 – and even higher rates for online Crisis Support Chat service – the charity does not have the resources to answer every call immediately.
“While we are thankful to the Victorian government, our corporate sponsors and donors for their generous and ongoing support, we are disappointed and saddened when someone has to wait for extended periods as a result of a lack of resources,” Ms MacGillivray said.
“My message to those people is to please stay on the line or try calling again later – you will get through.”
For 24/7 crisis or suicide prevention support, please call Lifeline on 131114 or visit lifeline.org.au.
