ChildLine provides a 24 hour confidential helpline for young people up to the age of 19 who may have mental health and wellbeing issues including suicide and self-harm issues.
ChildLine takes a positive, wellbeing approach to a young person's needs, making it clear that young people will feel a lot of different emotions and some may be more difficult to deal with than others.
Contact Details
ChildLine is free to call from landlines and mobile networks.
- Telephone: 0800 11 11
- Hours of Service: 24/7
- Website: ChildLine
ChildLine Advice
You can access direct help through trained counsellors and volunteer staff who all have experience of listening and talking to children and young people. Young people don't have to say anything that they don't want to - what they choose to talk about is up to them. The counsellor will ask some questions to try and understand how a young person is feeling or to help them talk about it. ChildLine give advice, and flag up other services and organisations that can provide more specialised support.
Referrals
ChildLine would only refer a young person on to other services or say something if they were asked to, if they believe a young person or someone else's life is in immediate danger, if a young person said that they were seriously harming another person or they were being hurt by someone who has a position of trust and access to other children e.g. a teacher or policeman. ChildLine wants to make sure everyone is safe. However, they also understand the sort of situations a young person might be in. If they do need to tell somebody, they'll try and give a young person as much control over what happens as possible.
ChildLine may suggest that a young person contact their GP who can offer help to get other kinds of support.
Ongoing Support
A young person can call back at any time, even if they didn't talk the first time they called. Sometimes it takes a few calls, chats or emails before they start really talking. When a young person call's ChildLine, they are in control. They can end the call at any time and call back at any time as advisers are there to help 24 hours a day. The more a young person talks about what is happening and how it makes them feel, the more the advisers can understand and help, but they are always in control of what they tell an adviser.
There is no limit to the number of times someone can contact the ChildLine service either by phone or online chat. Due to the volume of calls and the confidential nature of the service it is not always possible for someone to speak to the same person they spoke to previously.
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