Our Philosophy
- LifeLine Western Cape is an organisation of well trained and carefully selected LifeLine counsellors who genuinely care for and provide support to callers and clients facing a crisis in their lives.
- The role of LifeLine Western Cape is to create a safe space for people to share what is happening in their lives.
- We believe that it is every person’s right to be treated with dignity and respect. We listen to the call of those who turn to us for comfort and support.
- We offer non-judgemental, empathic, caring and non-directive counselling services. We are here to help callers and clients discover previously unknown inner resources with which to find constructive solutions to the problems they face.
- We believe in service to the community. We provide the facilities for people to train as LifeLine counsellors and offer them a wide variety of options to use their training to promote the well-being of our community.
- We believe that the relationship that we have with ourselves creates the depth and quality of our interaction with others. Learning to accept, care for and develop that which lies within us results in continually improving communication with others.
- We believe that the way in which we function in everyday life is to a large extent dependent on the quality of our relationships, be they family, social, business or community.
- We are aware of the diverse social and cultural environment of the Western Cape and seek to meet the needs of all members of our community with compassion and a high degree of professionalism..
The Origins of lifeline
One evening in the 1960s, Alan Walker a Protestant clergyman, received a telephone call from a man who was so desperate that he said he had written a letter, outlining his intention to commit suicide.
The minister arranged to meet him the following Tuesday, but before the meeting could take place, he learned that Roy Brown had committed suicide. It was then that Alan Walker decided to start a telephone service that would offer support and hope to those in distress. LifeLine came into being in Sydney, Australia, in 1963.
Today LifeLine International has over 250 centres in 14 different countries, with 26 LifeLine centres being in Southern Africa.
On the 29th of January, 2003, the founder of LifeLine, Sir Alan Walker, died in Australia at the age of 91.
In November 1968 Reverend Peter Storey, after having been the director of LifeLine Sydney, returned to establish LifeLine Western Cape as the first LifeLine centre in Africa. At 5 pm on 5 November 1968, the LifeLine telephone counselling service began in Cape Town when the telephone rang for the first time in the small office in Church Square.
