How to become a crisis supporter for Tamworth Lifeline

On Tuesday morning, Lifeline officially put out its first call for volunteers to fill its new crisis support centre in Tamworth.

"We're calling for people who are empathetic, kind, and have an interest in caring for people in our community," Lifeline Community Engagement Coordinator Kimberley Squires said.

The charity is using the money raised during Tamworth's country music festival to train up locals as crisis supporters, eventually hoping for 40 residents to complete training and undertake at least one four hour shift per fortnight.

"We know we won't get 40 through in that first group and that's okay. If we can start with four to eight in that first group that would be amazing," Ms Squires said.

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The new recruits will eventually be answering phones in the new Lifeline centre slated for construction in the Tamworth business park. But various delays have made it increasingly unlikely they'll be able to begin building in 2023 as planned.

"It hasn't even gone in front of council yet," Ms Squires said.

In the meantime, volunteers will take up the call in Lifeline's temporary office on Peel Street above Blooms chemist, directly across the road from their donation store opened in the CBD last year.

Lifeline's NSW General Manager Michael Were said it's critical to get support from the Tamworth community as the charity currently answers about 78 per cent of the calls it receives per day.

"Lifeline receives around 3000 calls every day to the 13 11 14 crisis line. Unfortunately, not every call can be answered because we need more volunteer crisis supporters," Mr Were said.

He said Tamworth was specifically chosen for their new centre as many of their callers are from regional areas and benefit from speaking to people with experience living in the bush.

"Tamworth is a key location for the development of our services, particularly in rural NSW. It is important that regional and rural communities are represented in our crisis supporters," Mr Were said.

Community members interested in joining Lifeline can find more information on their website.

Lifeline's volunteer training consists of 170 hours of learning over the course of nine months with volunteers starting to take calls with help from their supervisors after the first three months.

The first cohort's training will begin on July 17.

If you, or someone you know, are feeling overwhelmed contact Lifeline 24/7: phone 13 11 14, text 0477 13 11 14 or chat at lifeline.org.au/crisis-chat

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