Lifeline Broken Hill Country to Coast (LLBHC2C) CEO Scott Hammond, is moving on from the organisation after 11 years of service after both parties came to a mutual agreement that it’s time for change.
We asked Mr Hammond how he feels about leaving Lifeline and what’s next on the horizon for him.
“I’m just taking a break and enjoying the time off to be quite honest,” he said. “There are amazing volunteers there and they know their stuff. The vision we’ve had since I’ve been there has been very clear and we achieved so much together.
“We’d secured an additional $600,000 to expand our Connect Centre across regional areas in South Australia. The model developed in Broken Hill is now expanding further, which is worth celebrating.
“I was involved in the planning process, but I played more of a coordination role as the board reached out to an external consultant, which is standard practice. I wasn’t involved because I was already finishing up in December – that’s been brought forward,” said Mr Hammond.
“At times you get to a point where you’re no longer aligned with what the vision is and, in this case, it’s time to bring in somebody else that wants to align themselves with the board’s vision,” he said.
“The board have their vision and we’ve agreed to move on, and I sincerely wish them all the best.”
LLBHC2C Chair of Directors, Samantha Maiden, told us, “the board is extremely proud of the achievements of our organisation under Scott’s leadership and wish him well on his future endeavours.”
When asked about the path forward Ms Maiden said, “the CEO recruitment drive commenced on Monday, with an impressive amount of interest so early into the campaign.”
LLBHC2C plans to spend the $600,000 from South Australian Primary Health Networks (SAPHN) supporting the Clare and Port Pirie Connect centres’ operations.
Service and Supports manager, Marisa Pickett, told us, “Lifeline Connect Centres are an early intervention model for suicide prevention that aims to connect the community and improve social and emotional wellbeing.
“You can access counselling without needing a referral or mental health diagnosis. We are one point of contact for help seekers, and this is why we believe it has been proven successful.”
