NSPCC

Join us on 21 December and walk 5k to raise money for children

Take part on your own, with friends or family, with colleagues at work, or with pupils and teachers at school.

Will you walk an organised trail, or do a loop around your house, office, or school?

It’s the perfect time of year to get together with friends and family, or celebrate at work or at school, so why not make a night (or day) of it?

You could meet for mulled wine, hot chocolate, or mince pies beforehand, or end the walk with a well-deserved Christmas dinner or drinks.

You could even dress up – think reindeer antlers and Santa hats, or light-up accessories to shine on through the night.

To learn more and sign up click here https://www.nspcc.org.uk

This is the greatest challenge we’ve faced in decades.

Sadly, home isn’t a safe place for every child. That’s why we must make sure we can still be here for children.

Over the course of the pandemic we have all made radical adjustments to the way we live our lives. Families have been divided, people isolated, schools closed and reopened, routines disrupted and this is having a devastating impact on our children.

Quarantine measures have put increased pressure on families who are confined in close proximity all day. These difficult circumstances can make an already volatile family situation worse.

For many children, school is a refuge where they are fed and cared for, whilst home life brings dangers.

Since January, Childline has delivered counselling sessions to children and young people who have got in touch about Coronavirus (COVID-19). The top concerns of young people across all its sessions and in the period since the crisis began, relate to mental and emotional health and wellbeing. Indeed, every week since lockdown the charity has delivered over 2,000 counselling sessions with children concerned about their mental health and emotional wellbeing – totalling nearly 17,000 during the first 7 weeks.

A 15-year-old girl told Childline:

“I am not happy at home. My parents are physically abusing me - it's happening quite often now since schools closed and I'm really scared. They hit me and often it leaves me with bruises. I really want to get out of the house and be somewhere safe and happy. I'm scared that my parents will get angry and hurt me more if I tell someone.”

90% of our income comes from donations, gifts and partnerships with companies making a gift or giving us a percentage from each product sold. Without your help and support we couldn’t be there for the thousands of children who need us as we receive a call to Childline every 25 seconds. Thank you.

Shopping List: How your donations could help

• It costs £4 for one of our trained volunteer counsellors to answer a child's call for help to Childline

• £27 could pay for a Childline supervisor for one hour, supporting our volunteer counsellors.

• £190 could pay for one Childline supervisor shift here in Leeds supporting our volunteer counsellors.

• £1,250 could pay to run Childline for an average of one hour.

• £1,600 could pay to recruit, train and support a new Childline volunteer.

• £30,000 could pay to run Childline for one day.