Up to 60 Childline volunteers will give up their time on Christmas Day to take calls from children who feel they have nowhere else to turn, writes RONAN McGREEVY
FOR DONAL Barrett, it was the appeal running this time last year that made him volunteer for Childline.
The appeal, in the form of an advertisement which ran on television and on the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) website, depicts a little girl sitting in a shelter on Dollymount Strand.
She pleads for help but only half the words are heard. It is meant to illustrate that Childline, which is run by the ISPCC, can only answer about half the calls it receives because of a shortage of money.
The father of teenage boys joined as a volunteer in August and will give up his Christmas morning to answer the phones in Childline’s offices.
“There are a million children in this country and Childline receives 500,000 calls a year. Children believe in it,” he says.
“Our message is that we are there for children all the time and that is why we will be there on Christmas Day.
“I was originally going to do St Stephen’s Day, but I spoke to my family and they told me to go for it. I have never worked Christmas Day before and they said, ‘Dad, you should give something back’. I don’t see myself as any kind of hero. The heroes are the children who have the courage to pick up the phone.”
Though the perception is widespread that only troubled children ring Childline, about half ring to tell volunteers about run-of-the-mill everyday activities or about their dreams and ambitions.
Barrett says he received a phone call from a child who wanted to build a rocket ship to fly over the North Pole. Another said she had been accused of shoplifting and was beaten by her father. “We get all sorts of calls,” he says.
Between 50 and 60 volunteers will give up some of their Christmas Day to look after the phones. Last year the service received 777 calls on December 25th. About 40 per cent of them went unanswered.
Among those involved on Christmas Day will be 10 volunteers for the Childline Online service, which was started four years ago and involves correspondence by e-mail and text.
“We’re never more needed than we are on Christmas Day because there is very little other support,” says online service manager Lisa Collins.
For many children, Christmas is a time of unbearable disappointment and isolation.
“It can be a very sad time for children if there are problems,” says Cora Dalton, who has been a volunteer on Christmas Day, but will attend to the phones on St Stephen’s Day instead this year because of family commitments.
“The problems are usually associated with drink and drugs such as parents who drunk too much the night before and can’t get up on Christmas morning to see their children open their presents. The upside is that you can get very happy calls as well, with children thanking you for being there for them during the year.”
Childline manager Lloyd Byrne says when he worked as a volunteer on Christmas Day, he got a phone call for a girl who just wanted somebody on the other end of their line who would listen to her opening her presents.
“I thought it was unusual and it did not occur to me until I left down the phone to ask why a child would want to ring up and tell me. Why was that child not opening those presents in front of a brother or sister or a parent?”
Childline has been running for 21 years. There are about 200 volunteers in eight centres: Dublin, Drogheda, Cork, Galway, Mayo, Mullingar, Waterford and Limerick.
The service has no shortage of volunteers, but the provision of intensive training, the renting of premises and the hiring of professional full-time supervisors, who work around the clock, costs money.
More than €4 million is needed to run the service each year and this cost is entirely funded by private donations.
Childline is a listening service rather than an advocacy service, which aims to empower children to make the right choice in facing up to their problems.
Like everywhere else, the ISPCC is suffering as a result of the recession and donations are down by 20 per cent.
Childline’s biggest fundraiser is the Cheerios Childline concert held every year which raises €400,000. The show features a who’s who of contemporary pop acts, most notably Westlife and Boyzone who have been long-time supporters. Last year, it was given the privilege of being the first concert at the new O2 venue.
There has been an increase of 35,000 or 6 per cent in calls this year, primarily as a result of the strain that the recession is having on families.
Despite the present economic conditions, Childline has embarked on an ambitious fundraising drive entitled “Help Us Light Up Our Tree”, which aims to raise €1 million in just six weeks.
The money will go towards funding existing services rather than to expand the same facilities, which would require even more cash.
The ISPCC has managed to raise about €500,000 already, mostly through the Holly Days campaign.
“The more calls we answer, the more calls we seem to get. It grows year on year. We’re not saying that everybody has to do a direct debit, but every little bit helps,” says IPSCC advocacy manager Mary Nicholson.
“If you look at the cost of providing 24-hour social workers, it is in excess of €20 million a year. We are providing a service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in an extremely cost-effective way.”
Donations can be made through the ISPCC website www.ispcc.ie, by calling 1850- 504050, or by purchasing an ISPCC Holly badge available nationwide for €2 through ISPCC street collections in the run-up to Christmas.
www.christmas.ispcc.ie
