Over almost 26 years she has picked up the phone to those in crisis and now she helps supervise Lifeline call takers, decides when intervention is needed to protect callers, and helps call-takers debrief after their shifts.

And for the six years before the COVID pandemic emerged last year she worked as a prison chaplain.

"This whole job is listening rather than fixing," she said. "If we can somehow encourage (callers) just by listening, with gentle comments, if they can think of the solution or course of action then they own the plan," Ms Nutting said.

Ms Nutting did her initial training and first three years as a Lifeline volunteer in Melbourne before moving to Newstead and joining Lifeline Ballarat.

She usually completes two eight-hour shifts each week from her home plus any other supervisory shifts that need to be filled.

There is more emphasis now on protecting the call takers than there was when she first started.

"Our volunteer call takers can ring me before the start and I debrief at the end to make sure they go home without taking too much of it with them," Ms Nutting said. "And they can always ring me if it hasn't gone away."

Call takers also contact Ms Nutting if they are concerned about the immediate safety of a caller, and she makes the decision whether to intervene directly and phone the police or other support services.

The fact that she learns something from every shift is what keeps Ms Nutting in her volunteer role.

"A lot of people who volunteer for Lifeline and other things, it's most commendable because they want to make a contribution to the community and they do.

"But they also have to face a lot of stuff about themselves in the course of the training and that sort of learning experience is not always pleasant, but you do come out better for it I think.

"I go on learning, I learn every time I'm on duty. Sometimes if you have a person who is just starting a job you have been doing for years, you learn something new from them but you never really stop learning and having those opportunities."

IN OTHER NEWS

Hearing the difficult life stories of many callers also gives Ms Nutting an appreciation for her own life.

"One piece of bad luck can lead to unemployment, the break up of a marriage or violence," she said.

Uniting operates Lifeline's 13 11 14 crisis support service in Ballarat and in 2020 alone, the Uniting's Victorian and Tasmanian volunteers answered about 65,000 calls.

This week is National Volunteer Week.

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