Lifeline Melbourne is calling for more volunteers during evenings and weekends

IT IS the thought of a conversation that could have saved his brother’s life that motivates Kannan Nair to pick up the phone.

Kannan Nair is a volunteer with Lifeline Melbourne. Picture: David Smith.

IT IS the thought of a conversation that could have saved his brother’s life that motivates Kannan Nair to pick up the phone.

He was the last person his brother, Gopan, spoke with before Gopan took his life, and for a long time the Highett man carried the guilt that he could have stopped him.

“My brother called me while I was living in Singapore. He was having trouble with his studies, with his relationship,” Mr Nair said.

“I told him not to worry. I didn’t realise it was a cry for help and didn’t have the skills to understand what he was going through.”

Mr Nair, a commercial manager, was able to work through his grief with the support of his family and a psychiatrist.

He later decided to volunteer answering calls at Lifeline Melbourne, doing his part to ensure people reaching out for help found support at the end of the phone line.

One such call was from a desperate father struggling to cope with the demands of caring for a child with a disability.

“I spoke with him about his son and he realised the difficulty in looking after him did not outweigh the love he had for him. He said ‘He’s the reason I am alive’,” Mr Nair said.

The call resonated with Mr Nair, a new father at the time, and instilled in him how important it was to genuinely listen to people.

“I remember feeling so elated that I had helped someone. I just wished that someone could have done this for my brother,” he said.

Lifeline Australia received 975,144 calls during the 2015-16 financial year and 143,400 went unanswered.

The Melbourne service answered almost 50,000 calls last year, and Lifeline Melbourne manager Tina Thomas said people were needed to answer an additional 100 calls a day.

“It is heartbreaking to think there are people who don’t wait on the line if a call isn’t answered immediately — I would urge people to wait for us,” Ms Thomas said.

The crisis support service is calling for more volunteers to answer phones when demand is highest — on evenings and weekends.

Ms Thomas said there was a misconception that people answering calls needed to have a background in psychology or social work, but all it required was empathy, the ability to listen and not be judgmental.

Volunteers receive extensive training and can ask for support during or after a call, she said.

Lifeline Melbourne is a program of Wesley Mission Victoria. If you are interested in becoming a Lifeline Telephone Crisis Supporter, particularly during evenings and weekends, visit wesley.org.au/lifeline

For 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention services, phone Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au/gethelp

REAPING REWARDS OF VITAL ROLE

Malcolm Browning has been a Lifeline volunteer for many years. Picture: Mark Wilson

MALCOLM Browning started answering Lifeline phones for a bit of work experience — nine years later, he hasn’t stopped.

“The calls can be challenging,” Mr Browning said, citing a call with a man who was contemplating suicide.

“I guess I was on the line with him for about an hour. It was about getting into his space and understanding where he was at.

“When you have those calls and you are successful getting through to people, you feel like you have empowered them.”

The Metro Trains worker said the training he had received as a volunteer had also helped him advise his colleagues and deal with angry customers while on the job.

“You learn some life skills through the training — you never know when you might be in a challenging situation,” he said.

VOLUNTEERING ON THE FRONTLINE

Linda Kearley is making a difference as a volunteer. Picture: David Smith

A SERIES of personal tragedies in Linda Kearley’s life led her to become a Lifeline volunteer.

She lost her first husband to suicide, her second husband died unexpectedly, and she was also affected by young men on her son’s football team who thought the only way out was to take their lives.

“It is such a tragedy that they didn’t reach out to someone,” she said.

“When you go through personal and family crisis you think to yourself ‘can I make a difference to other people facing difficult situations?’ You have a greater sense of empathy and can be less judgmental of others.”

Although her first phone call as a volunteer had been daunting, Ms Kearley said she always left her shifts with a sense of gratitude.

The Swinburne University careers counsellor said her experiences with Lifeline had inspired her to study for a Master of Counselling.

“It is one of the most worthwhile things I have ever done,” she said.

“All it can take is someone picking up the phone that makes a difference to someone’s life.”

Lifeline Melbourne is a program of Wesley Mission Victoria. If you are interested in becoming a Lifeline Telephone Crisis Supporter, particularly during evenings and weekends, visit wesley.org.au/lifeline

For 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention services, phone Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au/gethelp