But there will be little time for rest when Mr Gould finishes his 24-year journey with the organisation next week.

The next chapter in his working career will feature running his own clinical psychology private practice.

‘’I started with Lifeline when I was 31 and then I was really keen on the concept of building an organisation from a whole organisation's perspective and getting all those bits of an organisation working well and my one little part in it,’’ Mr Gould said.

‘’I’m 55 now and I’ve become really interested in working with people one on one in the field of clinical psychology.

‘’I have been a clinical psychologist for a long time, and I have been using it in Lifeline in various ways but it’s now a different chapter for me to work with some people one on one.’’

Community leaders, including Federal Labor politicians Sharon Bird and Stephen Jones said Mr Gould ‘’has always been a leading voice on mental health issues and suicide prevention in the Illawarra’’.

‘’He has always provided great local input on policy issues and was instrumental in ensuring that Lifeline services were available to people in the Illawarra during their times of need,’’ they said.

Mr Gould himself said one of his main joys working at Lifeline was being part of an organisation ‘’whose prime aim is to be there at the time someone is considering whether they are going to live or whether they are going to die’’.

‘’We are really lucky to be able to be there for people to choose us to talk to at that really crucial time, and that's just such a special opportunity to help,’’ he said.

‘’Another thing that's really special to me is the way we support our telephone crisis supporters now and the physical structure of how we have our call rooms and how we have a paid supervisor on shift all the time. I also want to thank all our wonderful volunteers.’’

Last year Lifeline’s local crisis line answered 23,500 calls to assist people.