Childline Birmingham celebrates its 20th anniversary

Childline Birmingham is celebrating a huge milestone this month (November)
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It’s the 20th anniversary of Childline Birmingham - the counselling service for children and young people experiencing distress or concerns in their lives.

Tuesday, 1 November marks the anniversary and is a celebration of those in Birmingham who work tirelessly to offer support and protection to those who need it most. The organisation’s supporter fundraising manager said the service is very proud of the work childline has done and continues to do in Birmingham and beyond.

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Caroline Morgan, Supporter Fundraising Manager for the Midlands, said: “We are celebrating the fact that Childline Birmingham has been running for 20 years. So they’re celebrating their 20 year birthday. And we’re really proud that we’ve been able to offer that service, you know, day and night for 20 years because people have fundraised to keep that service going. So we’re having a party. We’ve got the Childline staff, staff from the rest of NSPCC, we’ve got supporters all coming together to sing Happy Birthday, basically.”

Matthew Brookes, Childline Team Manager for Birmingham speaks about what the city offers the wider organisationMatthew Brookes, Childline Team Manager for Birmingham speaks about what the city offers the wider organisation
Matthew Brookes, Childline Team Manager for Birmingham speaks about what the city offers the wider organisation

Matthew Brookes, Childline Team Manager for Birmingham added: “Here in Birmingham, obviously, we have a real multicultural city and we’re surrounded by universities. So we’ve got real, valuable volunteer experience that comes into the Birmingham base. And you know, no one person can be an expert on everything, but when you’ve got really diverse team like we do, it does help to give a better, more rich service to children and young people calling us up.”

Counsellors at Birmingham Childline have provided more than half a million sessions to children since its inception - with last year alone seeing almost 20,000 sessions provided to young people. Many of the concerns surround emotional and mental health, suicidal thoughts, family, self-harm, and matters of relationships and sex, however the service stands to support any child experiencing concerns or distress.

Neil Homer, a volunteer for Childline Birmingham, speaks about what the service offers childrenNeil Homer, a volunteer for Childline Birmingham, speaks about what the service offers children
Neil Homer, a volunteer for Childline Birmingham, speaks about what the service offers children

Neil Homer, a volunteer for Childline Birmingham said: “A lot of it can be family pressures, especially since COVID, where children have spent a lot more time with family than they would normally - probably apart from Christmas time when families are thrown together. So that has been very difficult for children to kind of get used to I guess. But other than that, you know, we have lots and lots of calls around bullying. We have lots of calls where children are just feeling overwhelmed by life. And that can then lead to them wanting to harm themselves or even not being here at all.”

Childline Birmingham 20th Anniversary Childline Birmingham 20th Anniversary
Childline Birmingham 20th Anniversary
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Anyone up to the age of 19 seeking support can speak to a Childline counsellor anytime by calling 0800 1111 or by visiting childline.org.uk.

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