The 20th Befrienders India National Conference is being hosted by Lifeline Foundation in Kolkata

PRIYO CHITROSATHI NEWS

RAJKUMAR DAS: 

Lifeline Foundation is a registered, voluntary, non-profit organization based in Kolkata 1996, working in the field of suicide prevention and mental health Lifeline Foundation is a chapter of Befrienders India, affiliated to the Befrienders Worldwide, UK. We are entirely a volunteer run organization We have a stringent selection process and our volunteers are well ased in providing crisis line support as per international standards We are also associated with the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

It's our constant endeavour to remove the stigma around mental health problems so that more and more people reach out to seek help. We run two free and confidential tele helplines ( 033-40447437) available on all days from 10 AM to 11 PM for callers who may be distressed, depressed or suicidal. Additionally, we conduct outreach programs with educational instinitions, public and government bodies etc. We have been associated with Kolkata Police and Metro Railways (our posters are there at 8 Metro Stations across Kolkata) to and in efforts at Suicide Prevention.

The 20th Befrienders India National Conference is being hosted by Lifeline Foundation in Kolkata on 3rd, 4th and 5th February 2021 The inauguration of the Conference is to be held at the Auditorium of The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark on the evening of Friday, 3rd February 2023 from 6.30 PM onwards. The conference will have participants from 13 other similar centres across India.

Our theme for this 3-Day Conference is 'Celebrating Life in the City of Joy. More than 120 delegates from Befrienders affiliated centres have confirmed their participation. The conference from 3rd to 5th February 2023 will help us enhance knowledge, adopt best practices, thusupskilling the expertise we use to deal with distressed callers.

Over the years we have handled thousands of calls from distressed or suicidal callers some of them in the act of taking their life. Our trained volunteers manage these calls with empathy & confidentiality Our numbers being publicised will ensure that more people know of this free service and reach out for help in their time of crisis.