Spike in Childline calls over hate crime

Childline has seen a spike in the number of calls about race and faith-based bullying in the wake of recent terror attacks.

Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Sikh and black children were among those who contacted the NSPCC helpline about the issue and said abuse and negative stereotyping was so cruel some had selfharmed while many said they wished they could change who they are.

The charity has handled 2,500 counselling sessions in the last three years while centres in Glasgow and Aberdeen have dealt with 159 calls on the subject from children in the last year.

In the two weeks following the Manchester Arena attack in May, Childline held nearly 300 counselling sessions across the UK.

The number of calls after the Westminster attack in March almost doubled to 128.