21 Dec Childline prepared to help hundreds of young people on Christmas Day
Dozens of volunteers at Childline are preparing to work on Christmas Day as hundreds of children get in touch on issues including sexual abuse, family problems, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.
The free and confidential helpline is open to help children 365 days a year and demand is high across the festive period for the advice provided by its specially-trained counsellors.
Last year 495 counselling sessions were delivered to children on 25 December – a 21 per cent increase on Christmas Day 2015.
Across four of the main festive days – Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day – Childline, which is run by the NSPCC, delivered 2,490 counselling sessions in 2016-17, up from 2,353 the previous year.
Children’s mental and emotional health was the most frequently-expressed concern with 627 counselling sessions delivered on the subject, followed by family relationships with 387 and suicidal feelings with 212.
As counsellors prepare to talk to young people in need of support and advice over this year’s festive period the NSPCC is appealing to the public to help them be there for even more children and teenagers who get in touch by phone, text or online.
To ensure as many of these young people as possible are getting the help they need the NSPCC is running its Light Up Christmas for Children appeal. To support the campaign all you have to do is make a small cash donation by sending a simple text message.
