DEAR JON,

Thank you for sponsoring 18 July 2020, your one unforgettable day.

A day that 650 children will never forget

Thanks to you, volunteer counsellors were there for the 650 children who bravely turned to Childline for help.

You made sure these children didn't have to deal with fears, anxiety or abuse on their own. By funding Childline for one unforgettable day, you enabled counsellors to listen to children, without judgement, and support then with whatever struggles they faced - from worries about the impact of rising prices on their families, to concerns about body image or content they'd seen online.

For so many children, 18 July was the day they found their voice.

Keira is one of the counsellors who was on shift on 18 July. In this video, she explains the difference your support made to the young people who contacted Childline that day, in their hours of need.

YOUR UNFORGETTABLE DAY IN NUMBERS

37%

of contacts were about mental health

13%

of contacts were about family issues

13%

of contacts were about suicidal thoughts or feelings

2,413 children

viewed the Information and Advice pages on the Childline website - the most popular page was Your Rights.

2,724 views

of the Childline message boards, with the most popular being a board about sex and sexual health.

81% of children

who turned to Childline were girls, and 19% were boys. Most were between the ages of 16 and 18.

GIVING A VOICE TO 650 YOUNG PEOPLE

“I had a 1-2-1 chat with a 13-year-old girl today, who told me she was feeling down due to friendship issues and low self-esteem. She confided in me that she has started to self-harm as she feels like she is worthless and useless.

"She told me that she has felt like this for a long time, but has not been able to open up to anyone before. She told me that it felt good to talk to Childline about her feelings today as it felt like a weight off her shoulders.”

A Childline counsellor

“I had a 1-2-1 chat with a girl, 13, who told me she was feeling really anxious and emotional. She said she just wanted to find a way to stop worrying about everything, but found this difficult as she feels she is continuously put down at home. She told me her parents always shout at her, call her nasty names and say she is waste of space.

"She confided in me that she feels upset most of the time and finds it difficult to concentrate at school. We explored her support networks and who she might consider confiding in. She said she would think about telling her grandparents as she thought they would understand. She thanked me for listening and I was pleased I was able to support her that day.”

A Childline counsellor

On behalf of those 650 young people, and all of us here at Childline and the NSPCC, thank you for making 18 July a truly unforgettable day.

Photography by Tom Hull. Children and adults pictured are models and volunteers. All names and potentially identifying details have been changed to protect identities. Quotes are created from real Childline contacts but are not necessarily direct quotes from the young person.