Many children will be feeling anxious at this time of national mourning – Childline is here to help them

At the NSPCC, we are deeply saddened by the death of Her Majesty the Queen and our deepest sympathies go out to the royal family, including our current patron, the Countess of Wessex.

Her Majesty the Queen was NSPCC president from 1943 to 1952, and our royal patron for more than 60 years, from 1953 until 2016.

During this time, she supported us in numerous ways, including attending our centenary thanksgiving service at St Paul’s Cathedral in 1984, visiting our national training centre in Leicester in 1989, and hosting a reception at St James Palace in 2007 to mark the end of our FULL STOP appeal.

Her Majesty’s role as patron of the NSPCC was just one of the countless ways that she made a huge difference to the lives of children in the UK.

We know that during this time of national mourning, many children will be feeling anxious.

We have advice online for adults about supporting young people’s mental health.

Further help is available for children struggling with anxiety at Childline.

We have created a new message board for children where they can post their thoughts and feelings, and we are using our website and social media to let children know that Childline is here for them.

Our Childline counsellors are here 24 hours a day 365 days a year to support young people who would like to talk about whatever may be worrying them.

Our counsellors are trained to reassure young people if they’re nervous.

They allow children to take their time and to speak when they are ready.

If a young person hangs up because they feel anxious about talking, that’s OK.

When they are ready to talk, our counsellors will be there to offer confidential guidance and support.

When a young person calls 0800 1111, they will be put in a queue to talk to a counsellor.

These queues can last a few minutes, or a little longer at night when we have fewer counsellors available, but the call is free and someone will pick up.

If a young person doesn’t want to speak on the phone, they can contact us through the Childline website – childline.org.uk – where they can email a counsellor or have a one-to-one online chat rather than talking out loud.

Support is always available for young people through Childline, whatever they may be feeling anxious or worried about.