Lonely children calling for help

NSPCC says December is worst month

YOUNGSTERS face their darkest moments in December with record numbers ringing Childline for help with isolation last year.

Staff supported 585 callers struggling with loneliness in 2020 – up 60 per cent on December 2016.

Contacts peaked over the festive period.

Childline founder Dame Esther Rantzen said there had been “a worrying increase in these calls”, particularly over the Christmas holidays when schools were shut and children were cut off from friends.

The TV presenter recalled: “I spoke to a little girl who rang from a foster home. She had been sexually abused, told a teacher and her father was sent to prison.

“Her mother blamed the child and said she could never see her brothers and sisters again.

“In my memory I can still hear the sound of that child’s loneliness as she told me it was all her fault, that nobody liked or cared about her, and speaking to Childline was her last resort.” Feelings of isolation among children are known to have risen during Covid lockdowns.

The NSPCC, which runs Childline, said the service delivered more than 6,000 loneliness counselling sessions in the year to March 2021 – an alltime high for a single year. Other reasons for calling include anxiety, stress, depression and low mood.

In 2020/21, 47 per cent more children aged 11 and even younger sought help for feelings of isolation compared with the previous year.

The NSPCC has now launched a Here for Children TV Christmas appeal to raise vital funds. Its advert shows some of Childline’s 1,200 counsellors taking calls at Christmas from children telling of loneliness, suicidal thoughts and physical abuse.

Dame Esther said: “Christmas is the most difficult time for children with nobody to talk to, no secure love to wrap around themselves.

“The best Christmas present they can receive is the kind, caring voice of a counsellor answering their call.”

UK landmarks including Battersea Power Station and Leeds town hall will be lit green on December 21 for the NSPCC. Supporters will also take part in three-mile walks.

If you would like to help, visit nspcc.org.uk/donate. For a caring voice, call Childline on 0800 1111.