Letter to Editor – Children’s Mental Health Week

Dear Editor,

Among the many types of concerns children contact Childline about are those that relate to mental health. Just like our physical health it’s important we look after our minds, and talking about worries such as stress and anxiety can help children do just this.

We have a team of volunteer counsellors at the NSPCC’s Childline service ready to listen to children around the clock about whatever may be worrying them, however we are in urgent need of more volunteers at our bases in Prestatyn and Cardiff.

A child contacts the charity’s 24/7 Childline service, which operates from 12 bases across the UK, every 25 seconds, but at the moment we are unable to respond to 1 in 3 children who get in contact.

It’s why this Children’s Mental Health Week we’re appealing for more volunteers to help us be there for children who may feel like they have nowhere else to turn.

Volunteering can be extremely rewarding, and we’re appealing for new volunteer counsellors with a passion for helping young people across our two Childline sites in Wales, as well as switchboard volunteers for our Prestatyn base.

We welcome Welsh speakers who can help us deliver our service to those children and young people for whom Welsh is their first language, although it isn’t necessary to be bilingual as we contribute to the UK-wide Childline service.

Successful applicants are asked to give a minimum of either two hours a week as a switchboard volunteer or 4.25 hours per week as a counsellor, and receive a comprehensive training package, which includes online and face-to-face training.

Enquiries for Cardiff can be directed to childline.cardiff@nspcc.org.uk and for Prestatyn Volunteer Co-ordinator Sally King-Sheard can be contacted on 01745 772101 or via Sally.King-Sheard@NSPCC.org.uk. Visit our website to find out more.

Debs Davis

Childline Services Manager, NSPCC Cymru / Wales