Almost four in five calls to a helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people went unanswered last year, due to a lack of resources.

The LGBT Helpline received around 10,000 calls in 2012, however only 2,086 of these were answered. Almost two in three of the answered calls related to mental health issues.

According to the helpline's coordinator, Paula Fagan, the service is struggling to meet current demand and more volunteers are needed.

"We are extremely grateful for the financial support we are receiving this year from the National Office of Suicide Prevention, which enables us to continue providing mental health support to LGBT people. However, this funding does not meet all of our running costs and our service is dependent on the goodwill of volunteers to devote their time to running our phone-lines," she explained.

She praised the work of the volunteers who currently give their time to the helpline.

"Thanks to them, we were able to expand our opening hours during 2012. But still, we can only open for 23 hours a week. We know the demand for the support we offer is much higher than what we can currently meet," she noted.

She pointed out that many people contacted the service due a wide range of mental health issues.

"In some cases, callers got in touch because their fear of coming out was causing them anxiety. In other cases, it was to speak about the impact on their mental health of homophobia or because of negative reactions from family members or friends. Isolation, harassment and bullying were also commonly cited by callers," she said.

Ms Fagan explained that some LGBT people feel that they do not get the same level of support as heterosexual people during times of distress.

"The death of a partner, for example, can provide a double blow for an LGBT person because, in addition to dealing with their grief, they may not get the same reaction or support that a heterosexual person gets when they lose their spouse. That's why the service the LGBT Helpline offers is so crucial - we are there to help LGBT people when they need support," she said.

The most common type of calls after ones relating to mental health included calls about sexual health and calls from the friends and families of LGBT people.

Meanwhile, in response to the lack of volunteers, the service has launched a major volunteer recruitment drive. Running over the next four weeks, it will include a nationwide media campaign, aimed at getting members of the LGBT community to offer their help.

Volunteers will be required to complete a six-week training period, to begin in March. They will then be asked to contribute a minimum of four hours' service per month.

After their initial training, volunteers will be based in one of the LGBT Helpline's affiliated local helpline centres, which are located in Dublin, Dundalk, Cork and Mayo.

Ms Fagan pointed out that in the Dublin office, there is a specific need for more female volunteers.

"The gay community in Dublin has historically been very proactive in offering supports for gay men. As a result, and perhaps because many women have family commitments that prevent them engaging in voluntary work, we have significantly more male than female volunteers in our Dublin centre," she explained.

She said that in a group of 48 existing volunteers, just 10 are women. As a result, the recruitment drive is especially appealing to women in the Dublin area to offer their help.

"Obviously, we're happy to accept volunteering applications from men also, and in other parts of the country the gender balance amongst our volunteers is much more even. It's important for us to strike a balance in terms of gender mix, and to have a range of age groups represented across our volunteer base," she commented.

Ms Fagan added that the identity of volunteers is never revealed and the helpline safeguards their privacy at all times.

The LGBT helpline can be contacted at 1890 929 539 at the following times:
-Monday to Wednesday from 6.30pm to 9pm
-Thursday and Friday from 4pm to 9pm
-Saturday and Sunday from 4pm to 6pm.

For more information on becoming a volunteer, email info@lgbt.ie