A Vital Lifeline

The free and confidential NSPCC service Childline recently celebrated its 33rd birthday. Childline has been providing vital support and advice to children and young people since 1986.

During the past three decades, Childline, like the rest of society, has changed significantly with the advent of the internet, which has transformed the way the service is delivered. However, some things remain the same and the service continues to be funded almost entirely by the generosity and kindness of individuals and through corporate donations.

Kindness Of Individuals

Since October 2018, Childline from NSPCC has received over £2 Million from players of People's Postcode Lottery. The first £1 Million from this funded the entire service for the month of March 2019. It costs roughly £30,000 a day to keep Childline running. During this time, Childline delivered around 20,000 counselling sessions across their 12 UK bases, helping children and young people deal with a range of issues and problems, of which:

• 31% of counselling sessions delivered were about mental health and wellbeing,
• 11% were about suicidal thoughts and feelings, and
• 10% were about family relationships.

A Childline counsellor, discussing a phone call from a young service user, said, "He was really worried about things as he keeps trying to hurt himself and has suicidal thoughts. He told me that when he gets stressed and worried, such as being concerned about his family members who are unwell, or stressed about school, he will hurt himself. He told me he has started missing school because of his injuries. He told me that he wants to 'get better' and that he would call Childline or talk to one of his parents if he felt the urge to hurt himself in the future."

Childline is often a lifeline for children who can't access other services, particularly as it is open 24/7. The support from our players has helped ensure the service can continue to be there for children and young people, day and night, 365 days a year.

A Lifeline For Children

Speaking about the contribution made to Childline by our players in 2019, Founder and President of Childline, Dame Esther Rantzen, said, "We are so grateful to players of People's Postcode Lottery for making such incredibly generous donations to Childline. Everyone who works for the organisation and plays their lottery should know that the money they have given us has made a major difference to thousands of children and young people's lives."

Support For Amazing Charities

If the work of Childline from NSPCC inspires you, find out more about the amazing work undertaken by these incredible Charities supported by players of People's Postcode Lottery.