Childline calls up by 25%

Childline received enough calls from troubled young people last year to fill Croke Park 10 times over, it was revealed today.

The 24-hour service put the 25% surge in demand partly down to increased awareness of child abuse in the wake of the Ryan and Murphy reports.

The helpline’s national advocacy manager, Mary Nicholson, said children felt more able to speak out after the probes into paedophilia and cover-ups in the Catholic Church.

Around 13% of calls last year related to abuse and welfare issues – an increase of 11% on 2008.

Family financial problems were also cited as a source of stress for many of the helpline’s 815,000 calls in 2009 – of which just over 60% were answered.

Ms Nicholson said more funding and volunteers were needed to make sure every child got through to an operator.

“We’re always surprised when it increases by 150,000 but I think it’s given the year that it was in terms of the recession, the Ryan Report and the Murphy Report,” she added.

“I think child abuse and child protection are more focal points at the moment so maybe there’s more of an awareness of that, and with the recession obviously if there’s pressure on families and they do need to talk to someone else.”

More than 60% of children contacted the helpline about worries in their personal life such as school and mental health problems.

Around 11% expressed concerns about their sexuality, with another 7% relating to peer and family relationships.

Ashley Balbirnie, chief executive of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC), said children’s voices needed to be heard.

“The figures released today identify a growing concern that young people in Ireland are not sharing their difficulties with those closest to them: their families,” he said.

“The pressures of the past year were clearly felt by young people in Ireland who, rather than placing further burdens on their families, appear to be sourcing external supports like the Childline service.”

The round-the-clock service, run by the ISPCC, has also unveiled Westlife as its new brand ambassadors.

The boyband will help the charity promote its new Who’s Calling awareness campaign to highlight the problems facing children who get in touch.

Since its establishment 22 years ago, the helpline has listened to almost 3 million children in Ireland.

The service costs about €4m to run annually and relies on the support of around 300 volunteers.

Last year it formally launched an online support site, www.childline.ie.