As crisis support workers they have been there for countless strangers in their darkest hours, talking people through suicidal thoughts, marriage problems, domestic violence and simple loneliness.

Ms Clare has manned the phones for 19 years. She is adamant there is no issue too small or too large for Lifeline telephone crisis workers.

"Our role as a crisis supporter can be anything to anybody, people can ring Lifeline for anything," she said.

Ms Clare started at Lifeline South Coast's call centre in 1996 in between running a business with her husband.

She starts her four-hour shift by typically arriving 15 minutes early to mentally prepare herself.

"Some people describe it as 'putting your crisis worker hat on', so as I'm walking up the stairs to the centre I put that hat on and when I leave I take it off so I leave what happens on the phones behind," she said.

Long calls counselling people contemplating suicide have obvious impacts on crisis workers but according to Ms Clare, Lifeline's support process minimises any emotional baggage. "At the end of the shift, or a particular phone call, you debrief with a supervisor, there is always support when you need it," she said.

What keeps Ms Clare coming back is her belief in the service's importance to the community and the satisfaction shifts at the call centre bring.

"There have been many times I have listened to someone who believes they're at the end of the road, and being able to help them reconsider that is the most rewarding," she said.

Mr Hill agreed that talking people down from fatal decisions was the most rewarding experience of his 42 years manning the phones.

"The calls were exhausting and terrifying but to give people hope, to let them know 'I know this is bad but it will get better, there is something you can do' was the greatest reward."

Mr Hill helped found Lifeline South Coast in 1967 at a time when issues like suicide, mental health and domestic violence were taboo.

"It was a brand new idea that captured the imagination of a few of us in church groups who wanted to come up with a better answer to these problems," he said.

"Back then there was nowhere near the amount of services they have now, there was hardly any women's refuges, and welfare services weren't readily available to people."

"We were available 24/7 even on Christmas Day, if a crisis hit you at 2am there might have been nothing open, but Lifeline was open." Lifeline is accessible to anyone, at any time, on 13 11 14.