Colin Seery, CEO, Lifeline Australia

I personally want to thank you for your note; and extend to everyone involved in the Brokerage Day our appreciation for your very generous donation to Lifeline. These past few months have been extraordinary for all of us and your support couldn’t have come at a more critical time.

Lifeline has never been more needed. From December to now, we have experienced a sustained 25% increase in requests for support. We are receiving more than 3,000 calls per day, and in April and now May we received a record of almost 90,000 calls a month. That is a call every 30 seconds to the service.

The collective mental health burden of the bushfire crisis and the virus is something we have not seen or experienced before. Recent Government modelling has suggested that deaths related to the mental distress of COVID-19 fears and physical isolation will far outstrip those caused by the disease itself.
The unique circumstances of this latest crisis have presented several challenges to the funding and delivery of our services, that your generous support will help us to bridge.

Our most pressing and urgent priority is to meet the increased need for crisis support. Your donation will enable us to maintain a much higher number of our volunteers on the phones – helping us to maintain an increased team of frontline supporters to answer more calls across this crisis.

In times of stress, isolation, anxiety and uncertainty, people turn to Lifeline for support. Our teams and Crisis Supporters across the country have pulled together like never before to meet this unprecedented need.

You have shown that you are a critical part of that team by responding with such generosity.

Thank you again for your tremendous support, it really is saving lives.