The OUTline phone counselling service reports a busy day on the phones yesterday, their first full service day following a quiet holiday break. "We diverted our 0800 line to a cellphone during the holiday period, but didn't have many calls," says OUTline's Richard Galloway. Most of the calls over that period were glbt folk seeking information rather than experiencing stressful situations, he says. Galloway say the calls yesterday were mostly a backlog of regular callers seeking contact and reassurance from a fellow glbt person. "OUTline provides a point of contact for people who are often socially or geographically isolated and for whom it is important to be able to chat with someone who understands personally where they are coming from," he says. Body Positive, the country's biggest peer support group for people with HIV says it too had a particularly quiet holiday break "and there were no emergencies I am pleased to report," says Bruce Kilmister. "Our support groups kept meeting through the holidays and I only had to pop into the office to provide assistance three times, which was a relief." Information on the AIDS Foundation's 24 Hour Nationwide AIDS Hotline is not yet available as office staff will not be back on duty until next Monday.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 6th January 2011 - 10:12am