Lifeline (Counselling service)

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Lifeline is the name of a free, 24 hour telephone counselling service established in 1963 in Sydney, Australia by the late Reverend Dr Sir Alan Walker of the Methodist Central Mission. Several other organisations following the same principles and standards were subsequently formed in other countries.

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[edit] History

Rev Walker was inspired to establish Lifeline after realizing that he alone did not have the time or resources to provide sufficient attention and help to the increasing number of people facing difficulties and personal crises who were contacting him for assistance.

Following two years of planning and preparation, a nine month training course for 150 people, the renovation of a century old building owned by the Methodist Central Mission in downtown Sydney, and the listing of the Lifeline telephone number on the emergency page of the telephone directory, the first call to the service was received on March 16, 1963.

Shortly after the service opened, it was featured in an article in TIME magazine, which led to the establishment of similar services around the world. The first international convention of Lifeline was held in Sydney in August 1966 to guide the development of Lifeline services and to establish quality standards, which led to the formation of Lifeline International.

Although all Lifeline Centres adopt the same standards, different names are used in different countries. For example, in Canada the service is called Telecare; in Japan, Inochi no Denwa (meaning "life phone"); and in the United States of America, Contact. There are currently about 14 Lifeline member organisations around the world.

In 1999, Lifeline International and similar organisations such as Befrienders International and International Federation of Telephonic Emergency Services (IFOTES) signed a memorandum of understanding and pledged to work together to provide an effective telephone crisis counseling service throughout the world.

[edit] Operations

In Australia, Lifeline provides telephone counselling to members of the public via a network of Lifeline Centres maintained by trained volunteers. As at February 2005, there were 42 Lifeline Centres providing services from almost 60 locations, with about 5000 staff handling calls and another 5000 volunteers involved with fundraising and administration.

For the year July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005, Lifeline received over half a million telephone calls. In the same period volunteer telephone counsellors listened for more than 500,000 hours.

Lifeline is part of an international network, and through its affiliation with LifeLine International, has centres in nineteen countries. Lifeline is also a member of the Volunteer Emotional Support Helplines (VESH), a partnership between Befrienders Worldwide, International Federation of Telephone Emergency Services (IFOTES) and LifeLine International. This network of volunteer counsellors provides services in 61 countries.

Lifeline also runs a chain of charity shops to provide support for the community, and to provide funds for their support services.

[edit] References

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[edit] External links