Peer CARE Companion in Community is a face-to-face suicide prevention service providing a ‘golden thread’ of trained and supported community members with lived experience of suicide, known as Peer CARE Companions available to compliment and supplement existing services. The volunteer-based service will strengthen many existing suicide prevention services including aftercare, postvention and safe spaces, and address service and support gaps in community by providing ‘light touch’ peer support and connection. Peer CARE Companion community connections may vary from having a coffee with someone, accompanying them to an appointment, cooking a meal, walking a dog, or just chatting.
Peer CARE Companion Warmline is a suicide prevention call-back service that has been created by Roses in the Ocean to provide a safe place for people with a lived experience of suicide to connect with others with a similar lived experience of suicide. The service provides people with an opportunity to connect, be heard, and for their distress to be compassionately explored and understood by another person through the mutual understanding that comes with meaningful shared experience.
This service may assist in providing relief from emotional distress, explore coping strategies, provide suggestions for online resources and/or information.
CARE stands for our dedication to listen with Compassion, Acceptance, Respect and Empathy.
Volunteer Peer CARE Companions will:
- Have a personal lived experience of suicide. Roses in the Ocean’s definition of a lived experience of suicide can be found here
- Have a current Police check and a Working with Vulnerable People check; Working with Children Check; Blue Card; or other state-based required check that allows you to work with vulnerable people (not required to complete registration)
- Be comfortable talking about suicide and sitting with another person’s distress
- Be able to listen deeply and let people talk about their experiences
What to expect as a Volunteer Peer CARE Companion:
- Peer CARE Companions will be supported to complete:
- Roses in the Ocean’s self-paced Volunteer Peer CARE Companion online learning and accompanying 1 day facilitated online workshop
- Ongoing support and debrief via the Roses in the Ocean team
- The opportunity to participate in group co-reflection sessions
- Professional development opportunities through a Community of Practice
Please ensure you have read the ‘Readiness to be Involved in Suicide Prevention’ document before completing your registration, which you can find here.
Once you have completed your registration, you will be contacted by a member of the Roses in the Ocean team. We will answer any questions you may have and discuss your readiness to be involved. It’s an informal chat to ensure that this is the right opportunity and the right time for you.
You can contact the Peer CARE Companion team at: [email protected]
Please click below to register your interest in becoming a Peer CARE Companion volunteer!
Our “000” position
Contact of emergency services by Roses in the Ocean’s Non-clinical Peer-led Services.
To ensure the safety, health, and wellbeing of all people involved in Roses in the Ocean’s Non-clinical Peer-led Services, emergency services will only be contacted in situations where:
- a person who is actively engaged in the service requests we do, or
- a person is disengaging from the service AND has communicated that they have the immediate intention of acting on their plan of suicide; or
- an incident occurs requiring immediate medical or other assistance.
Support Lines
Should completing this process raise any strong emotions for you and you’d like to speak with someone, here are some National helplines and websites:
Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800 | kidshelpline.com.au
Lifeline: 13 11 14 | lifeline.org.au
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467 | suicidecallbackservice.org.au
Roses in the Ocean SP Peer CARE Companion Warmline: 1800 777 337
Beyond Blue: 1300 24 636 | beyondblue.org.au
QLife: 1800 184 527 | qlife.org.au
Open Arms: 1800 011 046 | openarms.gov.au
13YARN: 13 92 76 | 13yarn.org.au
Headspace: 1800 650 890 | headspace.org.au
ReachOut: au.reachout.com
Everymind: everymind.org.au/need-help-now