A NEW-LOOK Lifeline in Bathurst has been unveiled.
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A year after it was announced Lifeline Central West would receive $163,000 from the NSW Government for modifications to its new home in Howick Street, the result of those works was shown off.
"We love our new location and our building is light and bright," Lifeline Central West CEO Stephanie Robinson said.
"We're seeing far more people come in and use the facilities. It's already bursting at the seams."
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Ms Robinson said it was a "mammoth" job completed by local company NJC Building.
"It was quite difficult," she said. "It is an older building and they really did it so well with minimal disruption to our services."
She said the modifications would make a difference to staff and volunteers at the building, which is home to a Lifeline telecentre.
"Where we were before [in Stewart Street], we were quite separated from them [volunteers]," she said.
"We need to be there to supervise and support if they're getting a really difficult call, provide a really nice space to debrief and have a coffee or whatever, and we can do that now.
"The other thing is we now have a training room, which we went without for a while. That made it really hard to run groups and now we can do that."
Member for Bathurst Paul Toole said the refurbishment would allow for "an increase in Lifeline's capacity, including mental health, domestic violence, financial issues, gambling addiction and drug and alcohol counselling".
"It [the building] was a bit old and what we've actually done is brought it to life," he said.
"It's quite bright, it's airy, it's got meeting rooms and this is absolutely critical when you've got volunteers and people who are walking in the doors to get the kind of support they need."
He acknowledged Bathurst Regional Council had been very supportive in "managing the funds to ensure that it has been delivered in the manner in which it was intended".
The $163,000 came from round two of the NSW Government's Stronger Country Communities Fund.
Lifeline Central West moved from its rented Stewart Street location to the former Steele and Co building on the corner of Howick and Rankin streets in July last year after buying the building.
