Tamworth residents have an opportunity to take part in two, free workshops next month, ultimately designed to help people living in domestic violence situations.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Lifeline New England North West will run the full-day courses on July 4th and 5th at UNE Tamworth.
Lifeline New England North West Community Engagement Coordinator, Kimberley Squires said the DV Aware course is designed to help community members recognise the signs and forms of abuse that constitute domestic and family violence.
"DV Aware is a full day, face-to-face workshop that teaches about the cycle of violence and how community members, professionals, friends and family can assist someone experiencing domestic and family violence," Ms Squires said.
In addition to DV Aware, Lifeline will offer a full day Accidental Counsellor course, which provides the tools to be an accidental counsellor responding appropriately and effectively to people in distress when there may not be a professional immediately available.
"We know that living in rural and regional centres means that a GP, psychologist or psychiatrist can take longer and can be more difficult to access. Knowing how we can help someone in the interim can be life changing," Ms Squires said.
"In this course we teach strategies to communicate and assist someone who is experiencing feelings of distress, anxiety, sadness and thoughts of suicide."
Lifeline New England North West is also continuing to recruit volunteers to become Crisis Supporters.
But recruitment in general is proving difficult and "Lifeline is no different", Ms Squires said.
She said the orgaisation is working on a number of avenues to attract volunteers to become crisis supporters, including community information sessions and social media advertisements designed to drum up interest.
"There is a financial contribution crisis supporters usually make to be trained, however we have waived this fee for those in Tamworth in the hope of making it more accessible," Ms Squires said.
While the service has begun taking calls in Tamworth, there is still plenty of work to be done.
"We often see a slow start to crisis support services in new centres. When we have a handful of crisis supporters trained, it's then easier to recruit others. We've seen this in Armidale where the service is now running well and attracting new volunteers," she said.
Meanwhile, plans for the new Lifeline New England North West building have been DA approved and it is hoped the new retail warehouse and crisis support space will be up and running in the first half of 2025.
Community members interested in taking part in the DV Aware or Accidental Counsellor can go to:
Accidental Counsellor Registration: https://bit.ly/4bZoTov
DV Aware Registration: https://bit.ly/3yXTZOs
