The authorities have stepped in to help give support line 179 a new lease on life by replacing the dwindling volunteers with a team of full-time employees.
Sources said that since the beginning of the year, there had been a decrease in the number of volunteers manning the support line, so a decision had to be taken whether to employ people to answer the calls or stop the service altogether.
Support line 179 is the national helpline offering support and information about local social welfare services and other agencies, and is a referral service to callers who requires support. It is also a national service for people in times of difficulty or crisis.
The primary mission of the support line is to provide immediate help to those seeking information and support or who require a referral to social service agencies.
The service is run by a team of professionally trained volunteers. Support line 179 receives calls in situations of child abuse, domestic violence and drug, alcohol and gambling problems, among others.
There were 8,895 telephone calls made to the government helpline in 2017, of which 2,243 were related to mental health.
The chairman of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, Alfred Grixti, confirmed to the Times of Malta when contacted that the support line was lacking volunteers.
READ: 250,000 calls in 20 years for national helpline
“One-seven-nine has always operated as a service run by volunteers. The number has decreased in recent years and the commitment there once was is no longer fully there. So we have decided to recruit a backbone of full-timers to cover all shifts. This should take place within the next few weeks so they are in place by the end of summer,” he said.
Mr Grixti said that despite the recruitment drive, there will still be a campaign to attract more volunteers, “because we still believe there is a role for them and a place for them in the 179 service”.
“I am highly appreciative of the sterling work the volunteers have done ever since the service was set up, but the situation has gotten to a point where we cannot, unfortunately, depend on them only any more,” he said.