Founded | 1986 |
---|---|
Founder | Dame Esther Rantzen |
Location |
|
Area served | United Kingdom |
Product | Telephone helpline, online 1-2-1 counsellor chat, email a counsellor through Childline |
Website | childline |
Childline is a British counselling service for children and young people under 19 in the United Kingdom provided by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. [1] They deal with any issues which cause distress or concern; some of the most common issues include child abuse, bullying, mental illness, parental separation and or divorce, teenage pregnancy, substance misuse, neglect, and psychological abuse. [2]
ChildLine Counsellors will not record calls but write down case notes of calls and sometimes counselling supervisors may also listen in to calls to make sure that they can help the best they can. If there is an immediate serious concern for someone's welfare or they are worried a child's life is in danger, notes may be passed on to relevant bodies, including the Police and the NHS. [3] Callers are not required to provide their name; they can give as little or as much personal information as they wish. [4]
In 1986 Esther Rantzen, presenter of consumer television show That's Life! , suggested to the BBC that they create "Childwatch", a programme about child abuse that was screened on 30 October 1986 on BBC1, the aim being to try to detect children at risk before their lives were in danger. Viewers were asked if they would take part in the survey in an edition of That's Life!. A helpline was opened after the programme so that any child currently suffering abuse could call for help. Rantzen, together with her BBC producers Sarah Caplin and Ritchie Cogan, therefore suggested they should create a helpline specifically for children in danger or distress, to be open throughout the year, 24/7, and launch it on the programme. [5] The project was made possible by a benefactor Ian Skipper who underwrote the charity for the first three years.
Childline joined the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in February 2006, and extra resources were pledged in an attempt to ensure that no child's call goes unanswered. [6]
Childline has 12 counselling centres around the UK and one home based team, staffed largely by volunteers. The bases are located in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Manchester, Liverpool, Prestatyn, Birmingham, Nottingham, London, Belfast and Foyle, supported by the online only centres at Leeds and Cardiff and the Virtual Base. A restructure in 2011 saw the closure of the Childline bases in Exeter and Edinburgh, with Swansea relocating to Cardiff. [7] As many as 4,500 phone Childline every day, though only 2,500 of these callers can be answered due to lack of resources. Since the merger with the NSPCC the service has expanded, and depends on public generosity to pay for the phone calls.
Childline raises funds through several channels, including direct donations through the NSPCC, partnerships, events such as The X Factor Childline Ball [8] and through third-party fundraising organisations such as Justgiving.
Childline's virtual base was started in April 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Counsellors in the virtual base answer emails sent by children and young people from their Childline accounts from their own home.
Following Childline's merger with NSPCC in 2006, Childline Scotland was run by Children 1st under contract, available to all young people in Scotland up to 18 years of age. It had at that time bases in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. [9] The Edinburgh base has since closed. As of March 2012, Childline Scotland is run directly by the NSPCC. In 2011 the NSPCC in Scotland began to work with partners to introduce new services for children and families. [10]
Similar helplines using the name Childline have been formed in a number of countries. As of May 2013 these included Childline Botswana, [11] Childline India, Childline Ireland (Leanbh), [12] チャイルドライン (Japan), [13] Vaikų linija [14] (Lithuania), Childline South Africa, National Child Protection Authority of Sri Lanka, [15] Child Helpline Tanzania, [16] Childline Trinidad and Tobago, [17] as well as organizations in Namibia, Trinidad and Tobago, Gibraltar, Kenya, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Some of these are independent charities; others have been set up by existing children's charities or more general helplines.
Childline in Ireland is run by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC). It was set up in 1989. In 2006 a text and online service, in association with Zamano, was established to increase the availability of the listening service for children in Ireland.
Childline Uganda helps people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS live a better life. [18]
The freephone number, 0800 1111, was one of the first 0800 numbers to be issued in the United Kingdom.[ when? ] Before BT allocated this number to Childline, 0800 1111 was used as a test line number by technicians. Other early allocated 0800 numbers were 10 digit, including the prefix. Childline's number is one of only a handful of 8 digit 0800 UK numbers to ever have been allocated and the only one still in use. Calls to the number do not appear on the phone bill.
Childline is also available on the harmonised European number for child helplines, 116111. [19] Young people can also contact Childline through their website, via 1-2-1 counsellor chat, SignVideo, Ask Sam and the 'write an email' feature.
Samaritans is a registered charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope or at risk of suicide throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, often through its telephone helpline. Its name derives from the biblical Parable of the Good Samaritan, although the organisation itself is not religious.
Victoria Lynn Hayden, known as Torey L. Hayden, is a special education teacher, university lecturer and writer of non-fiction books based on her real-life experiences with teaching and counseling children with special needs and also of fiction books.
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity founded as the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (LSPCC) by Thomas Agnew on 19 April 1883. The NSPCC lobbies the government on issues relating to child welfare, and creates child abuse public awareness campaigns. Since the 1980s, the charity has had statutory powers allowing it to apply for help on behalf of children at risk. In the 1990s, the charity's publication, Satanic Indicators, fueled panic in social workers who went and accused parents and removed children from homes when they should not have. It operates a help line. The Paddington Bear character has partnered with the charity to raise funds for the charity. NSPCC operates telephone helplines.
That's Life! was a satirical consumer affairs programme on the BBC, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving between 10,000 and 15,000 letters a week. The series was broadcast on BBC1 for 21 years, from 26 May 1973 until 19 June 1994.
Dame Esther Louise Rantzen is an English journalist and television presenter, who presented the BBC television series That's Life! for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes and founded the charities Childline, a helpline for children, which she set up in 1986, and The Silver Line, designed to combat loneliness in older people's lives, which she set up in November 2012.
In the United Kingdom, telephone numbers are administered by the Office of Communications (Ofcom). For this purpose, Ofcom established a telephone numbering plan, known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, which is the system for assigning telephone numbers to subscriber stations.
Women's Aid Federation of England, commonly called Women's Aid within England, is one of a group of charities across the United Kingdom. There are four main Women's Aid Federations, 3 for each of the countries of the United Kingdom, and one for the Republic of Ireland. Its aim is to end domestic violence against women and children. The charity works at both local and national levels to ensure women's safety from domestic violence and promotes policies and practices to prevent domestic violence.
A form of child abuse, child neglect is an act of caregivers that results in depriving a child of their basic needs, such as the failure to provide adequate supervision, health care, clothing, or housing, as well as other physical, emotional, social, educational, and safety needs. All societies have established that there are necessary behaviours a caregiver must provide for a child to develop physically, socially, and emotionally. Causes of neglect may result from several parenting problems including mental disorders, unplanned pregnancy, substance use disorder, unemployment, over employment, domestic violence, and, in special cases, poverty.
Peter Martin Watt was the General Secretary of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom from January 2006 until he resigned in November 2007 as a result of the Donorgate affair. Watt was then a member of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) Executive Board. He is now working for Hammersmith council directing all services relating to children.
Children 1st, previously known as the Royal Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, is a Scottish charity which aims to give every child in Scotland a safe and secure childhood. Children 1st supports families under stress, protects children from harm and neglect, promotes children's rights and helps children recover from abuse.
Anna Williamson is an English television presenter and dating agent. She is the former co-presenter of children's programmes Rescue RobotsToonattik and Action Stations! on CITV. In 2019, Williamson began appearing as a dating agent on the E4 reality dating series Celebs Go Dating.
The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) is a charity in Ireland dedicated to enhancing the lives of children and young people. It provides a range of services to children and families in Ireland, and promotes children's rights.
Refuge is a United Kingdom charity providing specialist support for women and children experiencing domestic violence. It was founded by author and Men's Rights Activist Erin Pizzey. Refuge provides a national network of specialist services, including emergency refuge accommodation (refuges), community outreach, independent domestic violence advocacy (IDVAs), culturally specific services and a team of child support workers. Refuge also runs the Freephone 24-Hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline is only available for women.
Sarah Patricia Ann Caplin is a British producer and television executive, formerly at ITV, and before that Deputy Secretary of the BBC, who has helped create two national charities, one for children and one for older people. She was a founder of Childline, together with her cousin Esther Rantzen and also The Silver Line. She was educated at the University of York and has been married to TV presenter Nick Ross for more than twenty-five years.
CHILDLINE 1098 is a service of Ministry of Women and Child Development. Childline India Foundation is a non-government organisation (NGO) in India that operates a telephone helpline called Childline, for children in distress. It was India's first 24-hour, toll free, phone outreach service for children. Childline 1098 service is available all over India. It is available in 602+ districts, 144+ railway stations and 11 bus terminals have Child Help Desks.
Jeroo Billimoria is an Indian social entrepreneur and the founder of several international NGOs. Her work has been featured in several books. Her most recent initiatives include Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI), which Jeroo founded in 2011, Aflatoun, Childline India Foundation and Child Helpline International. Her most recent initiative is Catalyst 2030.
Childline South Africa is a non-profit organisation which works to protect children from violence and further the culture of children's rights in South Africa. Childline runs a national, 24-hour, toll-free telephone counselling service for children and adults, handling over 1 million calls annually. In addition to the Crisis Line telephone counseling service, Childline also offers services such as online counseling, training programmes for continuous professional development, training on court preparation and workshops on child law.
The Silver Line is a free confidential telephone helpline offering information, friendship and advice to older people in the United Kingdom, available 24 hours a day. As of 1 October 2019 The Silver Line joined forces with Age UK to help more of the older people who are struggling with loneliness and isolation. The Silver Line is a subsidiary of Age UK and still has its own brand, registered charity number, Board of Trustees and CEO.
Sir Peter Thomas Wanless, is an English executive and former civil servant. Since 2013, he has been the chief executive officer of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). In June 2022, he was appointed President of Somerset County Cricket Club. In July 2014, he was appointed by the British government to head a review into historical sex abuse claims.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)