Appeal: An ear and sympathy to ease the pain of Christmas

Jonathan Thompson on the volunteers who are giving up their holiday to staff Britain's only out-of-hours mental health helpline

It's Christmas Eve and the brightly lit office is full of people, but hardly a word is spoken. Everyone in the SANELINE help room is hunched over a desk, listening intently on headsets. The library-like atmosphere is punctuated by the sound of another ringing telephone.

This time it's Sarah on the other end of the line. The young woman in her 20s has been dreading Christmas for months. For as long as she can remember, she says, the voices in her head have been promising to "come and get her" on Christmas Day. Sarah intends to lock herself away for the entire day, she tells the volunteer ­ the only way she will feel safe during the festivities.

Sarah (not her real name) was one of hundreds of people to call SANELINE over the Christmas holiday. There will be many more this week as the new year brings its own set of anxieties. "It's a pretty typical call to receive around this time of year," says Judy, one of the managers at the mental health helpline. "The job of the person taking the call would be to listen to what is on that person's mind and try to break down the voices."

The charity, which is the subject of The Independent on Sunday Christmas appeal this year, has 220 volunteers spread across sites in London, Bristol and Macclesfield.

On Christmas Eve, as revellers pass beneath the window of the charity's office in Aldgate, east London, the calls continue to mount up. There was the man who had suffered a breakdown after the death of his young child; the woman worried that her sister wasn't receiving the right treatment for schizophrenia; and scores of others. Each had little in common other than their shared sense of mental anguish, and the feeling that they had nowhere else to turn but SANELINE.

"At Christmas, everything is aimed at being happy," says Judy. "But for half the world, it's not like that at all. For hundreds of thousands of people with mental illness, Christmas is just another awful day to get through. It often makes sufferers feel even more isolated and alone when they turn on the television and see all those happy images. Some people will attempt suicide just to get into hospitals for Christmas."

Joining Judy in the help room is John, 38, a model from Fulham, west London. "For me, working here is a great antidote to what I do for a living," says the father of one, who was the "face" of Ralph Lauren for a number of years. "This is about putting something back in ­ something other than hair and hemlines."

Antonia, 33, a teacher, adds: "I've had the usual mix of sufferers and carers, but the recurring theme appears to be loneliness at Christmas. Every single caller has mentioned it. A lot of them have this idea that everyone else is having the perfect Christmas."

Sitting alongside Antonia was Sarah, 32, who had suffered a bout of depression herself. "Christmas and the new year can bring back painful memories," she says. "Somebody who has suffered physical abuse, or lost a loved one at this time of year, might find it very difficult. For us, it's about helping those less fortunate, and giving something back ­ isn't that what this time of year is all about?"

Why you should help this appeal, by Juliet Stevenson

The actress Juliet Stevenson today urges readers of The Independent on Sunday to back our Christmas campaign to raise money for SANELINE, the mental health helpline.

Ms Stevenson, 46, who has starred in films including Truly Madly Deeply, Bend it Like Beckham and the new big-screen adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby, described this country's treatment of the mentally ill as "archaic".

"The idea that there are sane and insane people out there with a definable boundary between them is quite simply not the case," she said.

"It's all a matter of degree. There is a large swathe of people with mental health problems who need help, and because they suffer from particularly isolating conditions, things like SANELINE are urgently needed. I would absolutely encourage everyone to donate as much as they can to this appeal."

Ms Stevenson, who had a close family member with mental health problems, said conditions such as depression and schizophrenia were viewed by many as "invisible problems".

"When a disaster happens, people will happily stick a tenner in a relief fund. A charity like SANELINE is not particularly dramatic or newsworthy, so it's hard to get people to empathise, understand and contribute."

It was particularly important to give support at this time of year, she added.

"Christmas puts a frame around people's lives and shows where they are lacking. It often brings things up to the surface." Ms Stevenson joins other celebrity backers for our campaign, including Cherie Blair, Michael Palin, Joanna Lumley, Jonathan Miller and Boy George.