John Nowlan, Chief Executive Australian Steel Products for BlueScope Steel is joining with Rachel Norris, CEO of Lifeline South Coast and Ruslan Epoff, Lifeline Volunteer Crisis Supporter to call for more volunteers to join the crisis support service in Wollongong during 2019.
Suicide remains the leading cause of death for Australians under the age of 44 years. In 2017 we lost 3,128 people to suicide. At Lifeline, we believe we can all play a role in suicide prevention. Last year, Lifeline South Coast answered 23,814 calls on the 24-hour telephone crisis support service. But more volunteers are needed if the local charity is to answer more calls and help save more lives.
Mr Nowlan said “The BlueScope WIN Community Partners program is pleased to have been supporting the suicide prevention work of Lifeline South Coast in our local community for many years. The Lifeline training course develops valuable skills in local people to build a stronger and more supportive community.”
Ms Norris said “In 2017 we lost more than 3,100 people to suicide in Australia – three quarters of them were men. We also know that the largest group of people to die by suicide are men that are employed at the time. So, the partnership between BlueScope Steel and Lifeline South Coast is so important to our region” Ms Norris said.
Lifeline South Coast is looking for men and women to train to become volunteer Telephone Crisis Supporters. Details are available at the volunteer page. Trainee Telephone Crisis Supporters receive extensive training in a vast range of areas and don’t go onto the phones until they have the skills and support they need.
Current Volunteer Telephone Crisis Supporter, Ruslan Epoff is joining the call for more volunteers to train as Lifeline volunteers, as he did.
“We know that two-thirds of the 3100-plus people who took their lives in 2017 were males,” Mr Epoff said. “So I think it stands to reason that males might be more comfortable with a male crisis supporter talking to them on the other end of the phone.” (original article)
The Lifeline South Coast Volunteer Telephone Crisis Supporter training course is sponsored by the BlueScope WIN Community Partners Program.
