About Us

Vision, Mission and Goals

• Providing a safe space
• Emotional wellness
• Hearing their voice
• Providing accessible, confidential and non-directive counselling services 24 hours a day
• Providing training and support to volunteers and staff to enhance our community service
• Providing training and skills development within the private and public sectors
• Identifying and facilitating relevant community development programmes
• Ongoing networking and development of partnerships with other non-profit organisations, business, government and the community

Our Philosophy

LifeLine/Childline Western Cape is an organisation of skilled lay counsellors who are there to assist callers and clients facing a crisis in their lives. The role of LifeLine/Childline Western Cape is to create a safe space for people to share what is happening in their lives.

LifeLine/Childline Western Cape believes that it is every person's right to be treated with dignity and respect. People should be allowed to speak out when their needs are ignored or not met. We recognise that many people do not enjoy these basic rights and we listen to the call of those who turn to us for comfort and support.

LifeLine/Childline Western Cape believes in the need for a service dedicated to the children of our community. No child should be abandoned or neglected or exploited in any way. All children should live without fear, in a safe environment where they are not subjected to abuse or violence in any form. We further realise that childhood and adolescence can be difficult and troubling times, and that children and those who love and care for them are entitled to seek guidance and support.

LifeLine/Childline Western Cape believes that all counselling and services offered should non-judgemental, empathic, caring and non-directive. Our aim is to enable our callers and clients to empower themselves and find lasting solutions to the problems they face. It is not our policy to impose the personal beliefs or convictions of the counsellors on callers and clients.

LifeLine/Childline Western Cape believes in service to the community. We provide the facilities for people to train as LifeLine/Childline counsellors and offer them a wide variety of options to use their training to promote the well-being of our community.

LifeLine/Childline Western Cape believes 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.

LifeLine/Childline Western Cape believes 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 promote the process of self awareness and learning so that each person can empower his or her own human potential.

LifeLine/Childline Western Cape is aware of the diverse social and cultural environment of the Western Cape and seeks to meet the needs of all members of our community with compassion and a high degree of professionalism.

Our History

On the 29 January 2003, the founder of LifeLine, Sir Alan Walker, died in Australia at the age of 91.

One evening in the 1960's, Alan Walker a Protestant clergyman, received a telephone call from a Roy Brown, a man who was so desperate that he said he had written a letter, outlining his intention to commit suicide. The minister arranged to met 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, in 1963.

Today LifeLine International has over 250 centres in 14 different countries. There are 26 LifeLine centres in Southern Africa.

Reverend Peter Storey established LifeLine Western Cape in November 1968. The need for an organisation committed to the prevention of child abuse became increasingly apparent and in 1995 Childline became a division of LifeLine Western Cape.

LifeLine/Childline Western Cape has grown considerably and now employs 85 members of staff. On average, the centres receive around 6 500 calls per month. The majority of the organisation's staff work in the area of HIV/AIDS counselling in the clinics and day hospitals around the greater Cape Town area.

Our Partners

IQRAA Trust and LifeLine/Childline Western Cape

LifeLine/Childline Western Cape is proud of the partnership it has forged with the IQRAA Trust over a number of years. The Trust has given the organisation financial support for various programmes, most recently of which has been support for our youth development programmes, in particular our Leadership and Life Skills Training modules.

The mission of the IQRAA Trust is the upliftment of the quality of life of all South Africans from impoverished backgrounds and empowering them so that they can participate and contribute positively toward the building of a better society in South Africa.

Over the years the Trust has facilitated and promoted capacity building within organisations by funding the development of infrastructure, equipment and the acquisition of skills. The Trust has also provided assistance for humanitarian programmes and projects designed to alleviate the effects of poverty and disease, for drug rehabilitation and to provide relief for the victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. The scope of the Trust’s activities covers the fields of education, health, welfare and social development. In emergencies the Trust has also provided assistance for disaster relief.

Visit the IQRAA Trust’s website at www.iqraatrust.org for further information.