Anguish over tower block deaths
switch off, to never stop caring, that has made Childline what it is today.
She says: “We have to deal with new kinds of problems like cyber- bullying, sexting, eating d i s o rd e r s and self-harm, depression and feeling suicidal. If these problems existed in 1986 they were quite rare.
“I am struck by the amount of unhappiness we see.”
Esther adds: “When I ask our volunteers what they think the cause of our callers’ unhappiness is, they say social media.
“These children may have hundreds of ‘friends’ online but they can be terribly lonely.”
Childline began in 1986 after Esther read about a toddler who had been starved to death by her mother and her boyfriend.
She felt something had to be done and approached thenBBC controller Michael Grade with the idea of a child protection programme.
He ran with it and it was announced on That’s Life. The report on child abuse introduced a 48-hour helpline.
She says: “It became more important to me than my career in TV.
“After 30 years I have begun to meet people who say they owe their lives to Childline and would not be here without it.”
Her visit to the charity’s two centres in Scotland gave her the opportunity to witness the tireless commitment and devotion of its volunteer counsellors.
“We see the counsellor focused on unlocking what is making the kids feel so bad and making them realise that they are cared about.
“Seeing that work, and the child finally discuss the secret that they have not been able to talk about, is wonderful. It is like a little miracle.”
In between forkfuls she also mentions another of her “passions”: Silverline, a support service for lonely senior citizens.
“My doctor son ( Joshua) says ‘ for God’s sake mother, slow down’. But I can’t. He threatens
Dame Esther Rantzen, founder of
Childline, has revealed that That’s Life, which she fronted between 1973 and
1994, could be rebooted for the
21st Century. me with intervention when he sees me doing things like flying up to Aberdeen and taking the train to Glasgow. But I love it.
“I had the most amazing journey down the wonderful east coast from Aberdeen.
“Scotland is so warm to children and young people.”
Esther only has to look at her grandchildren Benjamin, Alexander and Teddy to know how precious our young people are.
And she beams: “I have two more grandchildren on the way in August – twins!”
But right now it’s late and she has an early start in the morning. She’s off to another primary school where she will be greeted by a crowd of kids bellowing the Childline number they all know by heart: 0800 1111.
She’s been a dab hand at multi- tasking as we chat. But there are drawbacks. She chuckles: “I finished my cauliflower cheese but I’ve thrown some of it down my front!”