Some calls to Childline related to suicide

Childline volunteers have said some of 1,200 contacts received by the service on Christmas Day involved children expressing suicidal thoughts and speaking about the issues present in some recent high-profile teenage suicides.

Childline volunteers dealt with 1,212 online, text, and phone messages. The figure was down from the more than 1,300 received on Christmas Day 2011, but covered many of the same issues.

And while no figures have yet been calculated, it is thought at least 25% of calls to Childline on Christmas Day went unanswered — in line with the normal rate of unanswered calls throughout the year.