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V Information referral, su— pport, and a sympathetic ear, for people on P.E.I. is as close as a telephone number. Many worthwhile ser— vices are available to peo- ple who may feel frustrated or lonely, but for one rea— son or another, are unaware that they exist. The Fish Movement of P.E.I. exists for this very reason. It is a volunteer service begun in England in 1961 and has since established many cen— ters across the world, in- cluding Ch'town in-l972, and months later in Summer— side.

The Fish has been a Chri— stian symbol since the early days of the Christian Ch- urch. The Greek word for fish "ichthus" are the in— itials of the Greek words for "Jesus Christ God's Son Savior", and the Sign of the Fish Movement is built ' upon this affirmation of faith. The Fish Movement provides people with an opp— ortunity‘to be of service to their community and to express their love and con- cern for their fellowman in a practicaldwayaﬁToo”often;>1 nowca daysg‘we?hear the i'””‘ comment that: people don't” , take time to give eaCh Other the time of day, and that charity is old fashioned. Our modern means of living is geared to relatively high speeds, and although many of us say we'd like to help, unfortunately our road to hea—en is paved with good intentions.

Most of the volunteer work is done on the telephone line. The existing hours that the service is in op- eration is between 2:00 p.m- to 11:00 p.m., seven days a week, with volunteers doing three hour shifts daily. The service operates firstly as a referral agent, and secondly as a sympath-V etic and guiding ear where possible. The office is: equipped with two telephones, one for outgoing calls and one for incoming.

An extensive list rf comm- unity services is organized in a file, at the finger- tips of the volunteer, so that the proper referral is made. Someone is responsible er keeping this up to date aéd for bringing new changes t0 the attention of the vol— unteers.’The location of the Office is not disclosed. It is not unusual to have the Same people calling in very frequently,'and the danger 0f such peOple locating the °ffice could certainly be

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detreiental to the confid- entiality of the service. The Fish Movement has an executive of approximately twelve peeple, with two Fish Head. Members on the exec— utive meet once a month from Sept. till June and may be asked to sit on a variety of committees, organ- ized as the need arises. Members are people-from the, local community who have expressed a desire to help in this way, and who are responsible in drumming up support for the Movement. Fish telephone volunteers are exposed to an extended screening process, and sel— ected by qualified people before they go on the line. Application forms are rec— eived by writing to P.0. Box 1712 and after being processed and the person interviewed, he or she is notified about a training session. Training sessions once under way are held weekly, on a group basis and deal with topics such as, listening, referral, confidentiality, drugs, co- mmunity Services, and so on. After the training session

’has been completed the tr-

ainee is expected to work in the office with an ex-

_perienced“v01unteer.‘This. . gives the new volunteer an‘ .opportunity to become fam-

iliar with the mechanics

of the operation and to dis- cuss the methods of handling calls. Following the accomp— lishment of the above tasks, the trainee is then assigned a shift of their own. Vol- unteers are reminded as of- ten as possible that refer- ral is the key operation of the Fish Movement, thus all- eviating any unnecessary anxiety arOund being expec- ted to be a tap notch Coun— sellor or psychiatrist.

Their identity remains an- onymous simply Eecause if

THE CADRE, NOVEMBER 5, 1974, PAGE 3

peop e were 0 IISC ose t — eir affiliation with the service, it would destroy the confidentiality of the calls, and possibly inhibit the caller from using the service. Also releasing id— entities puts volunteers in the awkward position of rec— eiving pestering calls at home.

The best volunteers we have, are people who possess a genuine desire to help. They are able to feel for another individual who finds

'himself.or herself in an un-

fortunate situation. They are reasonably calm, respon- sible, and confident human beings who are able to get the message "I care" across. They aren't big business executives, nor the best counselors in the world but ordinary people who are in—

terested and concerned about .

their neighbour.

Most of the volunteer work is done on the telephone line, but there are other areas that.intereSted people may become involved in. Th- ese include trans ortation. Occasionally the elderly find themselves in a posit- ion where they are financ— ially unable to pay for

.taxi services to visit the d0ctor or meet other appoint—

ments, and Fish volunteers have been very helpful in ‘ assisting in this way. More often it puts the caller in a position where they meet

a new friend in the Fish Volunteer, and nine times out of ten this is the rea- son they called in the first place. Friendly visiting.

An on-going list of volunt- eers is kept of those who have some time on their hands and who would like to put that time to use visit- ing the sick or the shut-in. This may include hospitals, nursing homes, or private homes, and has worked out

to be,a Vﬂluﬁblﬁnand needed.

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When you’re down troubled -- (II the Fish

serv1ce. rovi-e a mea . There is not too much demand for this service but occas— ionally the office receives a call from an individual who may have arrived in the city and who hasn't enough money that day for a decent meal. The Charlottetown Pol— ice Station have been very helpful in the delivery of

this serV1ce. Housework for the sick.This is similar to

:the friendly visitor except

that volunteers may be asked

:to do some work for the sick

person and may come in on a regular basis to provide such a service. Again all the services mentioned, and others that haven't been, are done on a strictly vol— unteer basis, and at a time suitable to the volunteer and the caller.

The Fish Movement needs new volunteer people who have a genuine concern for others, and who want to help. It is especially in need of young people and volunteers from the male population. From the statistics collec— ted over the past couple of years it is obvious that there is a need for such a service. Comments collected form the community at large, including the Dept. of Soc- ial Services, indicate that it is a worthwhile endeav- our. Unfortunately it can not exist without you and as it stands the service is in great need of your supp— ort. This is your opportun— ity to contribute in a pos- itive way, to‘assist in el— evating some of the strugg- les that less fortunate peoL ple than you, are experien— cing every day. Are you in- terested? For further in- formation call the Fish num— ber 894-3474 or contact Marion Morrison, Dept. of Student Services, Main Buil- diggﬁ. ' .....1 ' «w