Donations ‘lifeblood’ of Lifeline
The Dominion Post’s Christmas appeal is this year supporting The Good Registry, a Wellington-based organisation that connects people with good causes through charity gift vouchers – providing a great alternative to unwanted presents and undesirable landfi
It is often the first place people who are in crisis turn to for help. Lifeline handles 10,000 phone calls and responds to 30,000 text messages every month from people who want to talk about things that are causing them distress.
Each day, between 15 and 20 people who are at high risk of suicide call Lifeline.
On the receiving end of those calls are 70 part-time health professionals and 120 volunteers based at Lifeline’s call centres in Auckland and Christchurch.
‘‘People call for a variety of reasons,’’ said Lifeline’s operations manager, Helena de Fontenay. ‘‘The top reason people call is they’re feeling lonely and isolated. I think 85% of our texters are under 30 and the main reason they’re texting us is relationship difficulties – so that might be with their parents, partners, their friends at school.’’
It’s not cheap to run the service. It costs about $36 to answer each call or text. Most of it goes to staff wages and the rest pays for things like keeping the lights on.
‘‘We have to pay for the phone
bill and the tax bill,’’ said de Fontenay. ‘‘We have to pay for the computer systems and all the background things like organising the payroll.’’
On top of that, Lifeline trains 100 new volunteers each year.
Each volunteer spends between three weeks and three months in training, starting with seven modules of theoretical training before they get hands-on experience under the supervision of senior staff.
Every shift is different because the calls and texts are ‘‘like a box of chocolates’’, de Fontenay said.
Staff and volunteers never
know what they are going to get.
‘‘Some days are really heavy; you might have lots of high-risk calls. Some days you’re talking to a lot of people that are looking for connection,’’ she said.
Suicide prevention is about making a connection with the person, de Fontenay said, and the first thing to do is show care, compassion and empathy.
Donations are the ‘‘lifeblood’’ of Lifeline because it doesn’t receive government funding, she said. Its current resources don’t always match the demand, crimping their ability to offer more services.
‘‘We try our best to get as many calls as we possibly can based on the resources that we have,’’ de Fontenay said. ‘‘Sometimes a call takes 10 minutes and sometimes a call takes two hours, depending on the circumstances.
‘‘Without the donations I don’t know if Lifeline could keep going. Every dollar counts and every dollar supports another Kiwi.’’