Prestatyn-based children’s charity launches £50m appeal

Oct 1 2008 by David Rutland, Denbigh Visitor

A PRESTATYN-BASED children’s charity has launched a vital three-year appeal to raise £50 million.

ChildLine, formerly located in Rhyl’s Royal Alexandra hospital and now based on Warren Drive, Prestatyn, last week announced plans to raise the funds and help develop its vital helpline services.

The Child’s Voice Appeal is being organised jointly with the NSPCC and they hope to bring in more than £8 million from Wales alone.

Last year, two thirds of calls to ChildLine and three quarters of calls to the adult helpline were answered.

Chris O’Marah, Head of the NSPCC Wales Helpline, said: “Every day we deal with tragic stories of children who are living in the most heart-rending and often dangerous conditions.

“Many of them are so young they are helpless so their only hope is for someone to see how dreadful their lives are and take action to save them. When they do that, we have to be sure we can take their calls.”

Last year, concerned members of the public contacted the charity’s helpline on average every five minutes, with nearly 10,000 calls being so serious they needed urgent attention. One in three of these came from people living nearby the abused child and their action helped at least 7,000 children.

The funding will help counsel 500,000 more callers to ChildLine every year, help the NSPCC advise 18,000 more adults who have concerns about a child offer young people options for how they access help and give support for adults

In addition to the Child’s Voice Appeal, the British Government is providing £30million towards the development of the NSPCC help lines over the next four years.

For details visit www.childsvoiceappeal.org.uk or call 02920 267008. For information about volunteering call the volunteer coordinator on 0844 892 0230.