CHILDLINE ADVICE: Thirty five years on and sadly children still need our help

no matter how strong and adaptable children and young people are, they shouldn’t have to cope with their worries alone.

Since it was founded by Dame Esther Rantzen in 1986, we’ve helped millions of young people across the region and the rest of the country.

Every day, children contact our counsellors by phone, email and through the Childline website, speaking to our specially-trained volunteers and staff to share their worries and concerns.

We’ve even got one counsellor, Colin Butler, who has been with us since day one and is still as passionate about supporting young people as he was on that first shift.

Colin was asked in the early days of Childline whether he would carry on “until things calmed down”, but said 35 years later: “I don’t think they ever will. Children will always need a service like Childline.”

We’re here 24 hours a day, every day of the year, to offer help, advice and somewhere to turn whenever children need it.

Whereas all our contacts once came by phone, we now speak to young people on secure messages through our website and emails, as well as taking thousands of calls every day.

Even during the pandemic, our incredible volunteers and staff adapted to ensure we could be there for children, and we must keep evolving to keep up with changing dangers facing young people.

We know growing up isn’t easy, and no matter how strong and adaptable children and young people are, they shouldn’t have to cope with their worries alone.

Young people today are dealing with pressures no child should have to face, burdened with worries no child should have to carry. Mental and emotional health remains the top concern for children and young people contacting Childline, and although life is gradually retuning back to some kind of normal, we know there are many children who are still struggling.

Childline has always been a safe space for young people to turn to, whatever difficulties they face – big and small.

Whatever life throws at children, we’re here to show them they matter, and they’re not alone.

Whatever’s going on in the world, whatever they’re facing, we’re here for children.