Weekly wrap - 1 September 2017

Today the Lifeline Canberra team bid farewell to our extraordinary ambassador Marianna Tolo, as she departs for Turkey to continue her stellar sporting career.

It is with enormous thanks for all of the support Marianna has given us that we say ‘see you later’ and wish her the best. My cover image for this wrap is Marianna and the team having a laugh today.

Lifeline is often referred to as a suicide intervention line or suicide prevention service. Whilst this is at the core of what we do, I wanted to share with you the diversity in nature of our calls, and encourage you to spread the message. We are there for you in every conceivable human crisis. We are available to support long before issues become all consuming or dangerous.

In 3 days in our centre – amongst over 715 crisis calls, mental health calls and safety calls – our telephone crisis supporters made 54 safety plans with callers with immediate safety issues. 14 callers were individuals with an imminent safety risk requiring immediate onsite intervention. 70 callers were suicidal. 20 were in immediate domestic violence situations. 7 were witness to or involved in crime. 5 callers were involved in non-suicidal self injury at the time of the call. And 4 calls required immediate action involving child safety.

If you need to talk, there is someone to support. In every crisis, there is someone to listen.  

I wanted to clear this up as this week has been a divisive one for our community in Canberra, and indeed the nation as a whole. With the ACT government initiating their harm minimisation strategy in the gambling space, and the debate around same sex marriage, we are observing a marked increase in feelings of isolation, frustration and angst. Debates, by their very nature, are divisive and troublesome feelings can be a normal reaction to this. Please encourage anyone you know, or indeed yourself if it is close to your heart, to reach out if these become overwhelming or difficult to shake. Thank you to those who have picked up the phone.

Of course, our crisis support volunteers and warehouse volunteers are not the only ones doing amazing work in our community. This week I was delighted to attended the R U OK afternoon tea at Government House. Hosted by our Governor-General, General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove and Lady Cosgrove, the afternoon highlighted the importance of starting conversations and ensuring the welfare of others. 

Wishing Brendan Maher and his R U OK team a safe trip around the country. Great to see you guys!

(The image to the right is R U OK General Manager Brendan Maher, with Audi Foundation Head Tom Keenan and myself at Government House.)

It was a honour to announce our finalists for the Women of Spirit Awards this week, our first attempt at Facebook Live! I was proud to read the names of 15 local women who are dedicating their time to support and improve our community. You can see a recording of this live announcement on Facebook. Please join us on 18 September as we celebrate these amazing women at our luncheon, hear more of their stories and announce the Rising Women of Spirit and Women of Spirit Award recipients.

Thank you to my fellow Women of Spirit selection panel members for helping with what is essentially a heart-breaking and heart-warming experience all in one. Gillian Adamson, Peta Henare, Arran Curll, Jenni Tarrant and Natalie Forrest.

As this week closes, we move into full Bookfair preparation mode. Books will soon be transferred to Exhibition Park and our volunteers are all working hard to set up our biggest Bookfair of the year. Please do visit us on Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday next week and say hello to our volunteers and buy a handful of lifesaving books – one handful bought provides enough funds to take one life-saving call.

Saturday is family day, so bring the kids down for some fun with Prime Possum, Icon Water and the Gecko Gang!

Thank you to all our Lifeline Canberra family for what has been a big and successful week. And welcome to Spring!