OUTLine is continuing to see a rise in call volume, with calls so far this year between 50-60% higher than last year. With last year’s numbers already 287% higher than any previous year on record, the data collected so far this year continues this upward trend. With no obvious pattern emerging as to why numbers are increasing, OUTLine General Manager Trevor Easton says calls were very high in February, March and April this year, “usually those months are our quieter months”. In the period of January - July 2016, OUTLine recieved 5358 calls, compared to 3090 calls in the same period of 2015. With the increase in calls, Easton says the organisation never has enough volunteers and are always looking for more. He says OUTLine is 90% funded by community grants, from organisations such as Rainbow Auckland, Lotteries and the Auckland Council. "The other 10%," he says, "comes from various sources, private donations, some fundraising, one Corp, Partner Malcolm and Pacific. "Funding is a MAJOR issue for us and is very scary at times . I’ve had a few sleepless nights worrying about whether we have enough in the bank to pay the bills."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 12th August 2016 - 11:41am