Sad that Esther’s charity is still vital

DAME ESTHER RANTZEN visited the Scottish Parliament last week to urge MSPs to widen the remit of an inquiry into historic child abuse at care homes.

Campaigners want the proceedings to include those abused by people working with community organisations and church groups.

If anyone can make it happen, it’s Esther.

ChildLine, the charity she founded 30 years ago, has supported desperate children who were being abused and had no one to turn to, no one to talk to, to hear the confusion and pain they were suffering.

She used every resource at her disposal to make ChildLine work.

And it has – for countless numbers of children in our country.

The shame of our society is that it is still needed today.

Last week my daughter told me she’d been for an interview to train as a counsellor with ChildLine.

It was a really tough interview, she said, unsure if she’d been successful. But a few days later they offered her the chance to join their training programme.

It might be the most challenging thing she’s ever done – but I can’t think of a more worthwhile way to spend her time.

Esther’s initiative to “give every victim of child abuse a voice” is as important today as it ever was.