December 16, 2021 - 931 views
As the festive period draws in, the NSPCC is highlighting the vital role its Childline service will play this December as its volunteer counsellors get ready to answer calls from children at Christmas.
Childline is staffed by 1,200 trained volunteer counsellors who give up their time to provide a vital listening ear for children. The Childline service is here for children every day and this Christmas Day counsellors will head to bases across the UK so that children have somewhere to turn.
Childline Volunteer Counsellor, Chris Graham, who lives in Wales first heard of Childline when she was working as a Speech & Language Therapist supporting children in mainstream schools.
The NSPCC’s Schools Service volunteers delivered a Speak Out Stay Safe assembly at the primary school she was working at and had taken along their mascot, Buddy, to meet the children. Chris volunteered for the NSPCC’s Schools Service for two years.
After retiring and helping with the childcare of her two grandsons, Chris was ready for a new challenge and currently volunteers on the Monday evening shift with a team of up to 10 others.
She says: “I was keen to keep active and signed up and trained to volunteer as a Childline counsellor. I have been doing this now for about seven years and recently reached 1,500 hours of counselling on shift to the young people.
“It is such a privilege to be able to talk to the young people often as young as age 10, who may have not been able to talk to anyone else previously.
“During Covid, there seems to have been an increase for children with high-risk calls including suicide and self-harm. It has been such a strange isolating time for many, and some children come through regularly to chat. Childline maybe their lifeline.
“One counselling session that sticks with me was with a boy who had been told his dad, who was on a Covid ward, was going to die and he hadn’t been able to see him.
“The Childline team is now like a second family to me. The supervisors ensure that you care for yourself with important debrief sessions, so you don’t go away with any feelings that you find hard to cope with after some of the calls.
“If you are considering becoming a Childline volunteer it can be challenging and emotional, but it’s such a vital place for young people to share their worries in confidence. You learn a lot about yourself, and the skills learnt can also be so helpful for your life outside.
“I am so lucky to have such a rewarding life with Childline as a big focus. In addition, my week is busy with the grandsons, Cub Scout Leader Assistant, and an allotment. We’re not self-sufficient on produce quite yet.”
Hollie Evans who called Childline in her darkest hour said:
“When I was unwell Christmas was stressful. One year I was in hospital, and barely even saw my family. I think the feeling of isolation is worse at Christmas, because we are very much fed the idea that Christmas is a time to be together.
“It feels like the whole world is carrying on without you. You see adverts of families gathered round Christmas tables and people dancing at parties on New Year’s Eve, and when your Christmas doesn’t look like that it feels devastating.
“It’s a lonely feeling when people can’t see you for who you really are. To everyone else in my life I was the girl who was ill, but to Childline I could just be Hollie.”
