Towergate has formed a
partnership with ChildLine, the free, 24-hour confidential helpline
for children and young people provided by the NSPCC.
Since its 1986 launch, ChildLine has counselled
nearly two million children and young people.
It has saved children's lives, found refuge for those in danger,
and given hope to children who believed no one else cared.
Over the next three years ChildLine plans to modernise, launching
an online and text service to reach out to children in the way they
feel most comfortable with. Importantly, irrespective of whether a
child uses text, online chat or phone, every contact will be stored
in one system. This makes it easier for children to contact us
whilst enabling our trained counsellors to have a complete picture
so they can understand the issues and provide appropriate
help.
Currently, a third of the children who call ChildLine
are unable to get through to a counsellor as the
demand for the service is so high. The number of calls is
expected to increase as ChildLine help more children understand
that they can talk to someone. Currently only 25% of children that
suffer abuse tell any one. ChildLine's goal is to answer
every call, email or text from every child who needs help.
Sue Minto, Head of ChildLine says:
"For many children who call, it's the first time they have
tried to tell someone what they are experiencing. If a vulnerable
child summons the courage to call ChildLine and we are unable to
answer their call, it is a tragedy. Our vision is to answer every
call and never leave a child feeling afraid or alone. But we need
help to deliver our vision for children and we are delighted that
Towergate is joining us to make sure that we can be there for every
child who needs us."
The Government has committed to funding the technology to
develop NSPCC’s ChildLine service. As a condition of
this funding, the NSPCC must also raise the cash to cover a
significant element of the development. It costs £1600 to
train a volunteer. ChildLine need another 700 volunteers so that
every child in need of help can get support. Towergate is the
first partner to commit to helping NSPCC meet this
challenge.
Towergate's partnership with ChildLine will have a local and
national impact. Each Towergate office will fund their local
ChildLine centre, providing the resource to train volunteer
counsellors; to answer calls from children including those from the
local area.
Launch a map of ChildLine centres with the payments
received from Towergate
Towergate's CEO, Andy Homer said "At Towergate we believe that even
though we are a commercial organisation we have to give something
back to the society within which we operate. Helping to support the
NSPCC's ChildLine service at a national and local
level fits perfectly with our business. We work in local
communities and we want to help local communities".
