SUPPORT CHILDLINE AND.. HELP GIVE BRIGHTER FUTURE TO KIDS IN DIRE NEED OF HELP

Daily Mirror back charity’s £500,000 appeal

ONE in four kids who need a Childline counsellor can’t get through to them.

And the Daily Mirror Northern Ireland and NSPCC are today launching a nationwide campaign to help the charity reach young people who hang up or log off before they can speak to a volunteer.

Due to rising demand for online, evening and night-time counselling, the NSPCC service can only respond to three in every four young people who need its help.

To close this gap we are calling on our readers to make a donation by sending a simple text, with just £4 covering the cost of a counsellor responding to a child in need.

Last year thousands of children reached vital help thanks to calling Childline.

But the youngsters who made another 175,000 phone calls or started online chats were not so lucky because increasing demand simply cannot be met without further funding.

So now the charity, founded by Esther Rantzen more than 30 years ago, is asking for YOUR support to help counsellors answer those vital calls in the hope Childline CAN be there for everyone who needs help.

In particular the Nspcc-supported service wants the capability to respond to tens of thousands more young people who are contacting them via the website or by phone during the peak hours of 4pm and 1am.

But this means employing extra staff to support volunteers with £500,000 a year the additional cost of Childline meeting the needs of all those in crisis.

The Daily Mirror Northern Ireland has teamed up with the NSPCC to launch Light Up Christmas For Children.

It will run alongside the charity’s nationwide campaign to raise vital funds.

The need for Childline has never been greater, with increasing numbers of children and teenagers contacting them about mental health concerns including many who are self-harming and even planning their own suicide.

NSPCC Head of Helplines John Cameron said: “Childline is there for children and teenagers day and night. However, developments in technology have meant young people are now communicating with us in very different ways which is placing the service under real pressure.

“In particular we are getting more calls later in the evening and many more contacts online, with these counselling sessions taking twice as long as those conducted over the phone.”

Last year almost 800,000 calls, chats and emails from young people were put through to Childline, with 625,000 of those getting to speak to a counsellor.

Mr Cameron added: “We are really excited that a great campaigning newspaper like the Daily Mirror is backing our efforts to get to young people in need of our help more quickly.

“We would also urge children and teenagers to keep contacting us and to always try and wait until a counsellor becomes available.”

Childline is also making a nationwide appeal for more volunteer counsellors, especially people who are willing to work in the evenings and overnight.